A deadly earthquake in Japan rattled nuclear power plants but didn’t cause lasting damage. The 7.3 magnitude earthquake occurred just off the coast of Fukushima, the site of one of the worst nuclear disasters in history.
The quake raised the threat of a tsunami hitting the island nation, where four people died and 97 were injured. A tsunami caused the 2011 Fukushima disaster, though a tsunami didn’t accompany Wednesday’s quake.
Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority told the International Atomic Energy Agency that the earthquake caused some “deficiencies” at nuclear power plants but “there were no reports of issues giving rise to safety concerns at the nuclear sites located in the region.” It added, “The NRA earlier informed the IAEA that the tremor had not caused elevated radiation levels at the plants.”
The earthquake’s epicenter was about 20.5 miles below the sea and roughly 37 miles off Japan’s coast. Tremors from the quake shifted the seismically qualified water tanks at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant that hold treated water from the 2011 disaster. Japan’s NRA said there was no leakage from the shifting tanks.
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Tremors also knocked out a cooling pump at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. All six reactors at the plant are shut down but need to be kept cool as they decay. The NRA said the pump stopped working temporarily but came back online and all cooling functions are working.
One of the three nuclear power plants in the area suffered no damage, but a nuclear power station Japan is in the process of decommissioning, Fukushima Daiini, also temporarily suffered stalled fuel pumps. Those cooling systems are back online as well.
While the earthquake didn’t cause lasting damage to nuclear facilities, its effects were felt throughout the country. Communities within 186 miles of the epicenter were under a tsunami warning, and more than 2 million households in Tokyo lost power, according to ABC.
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The earthquake derailed a high-speed train with 100 passengers on board, but no injuries were reported.
The IAEA said it does not expect any more updates on Japan’s nuclear sites.
