M6.8 quake jolts Tohoku

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 jolted the Tohoku region Friday afternoon, but caused no abnormalities at the crisis-hit Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, the Meteorological Agency and Tokyo Electric Power Co. said.

The 2:36 p.m. quake measured lower 5 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale to 7 in Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, and it also rattled wide areas in Japan from Hokkaido to the Kinki region near Osaka.

The agency temporarily issued a tsunami warning to Miyagi and Fukushima, but no tidal waves were observed. The warning was lifted about 40 minutes later.

Along with the Fukushima plant, the Onagawa nuclear plant in Miyagi operated by Tohoku Electric Power Co. and Tepco's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant in Niigata Prefecture were operating normally after the quake.

East Japan Railway Co. said it suspended some services on the Tohoku, Yamagata and Joetsu shinkansen lines for up to two hours to confirm their safety, while East Nippon Expressway Co. also closed the Joban, Banetsu and Sanriku expressways.

View the original article here