An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8, revised up from an earlier estimate of 6.6, jolted northeast Japan on Saturday, shaking buildings 400 kilometres away in Tokyo and raising the possibility of landslides closer to the epicentre. No tsunami alert was issued after the quake, which struck at 10.27 am Japan time (0127 GMT) off the coast of Miyagi prefecture at a depth of 51 kilometres (32 miles), the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said. Tokyo Electric Power reported there were no issues at the devastated Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, wrecked by a massive earthquake and tsunami in northeast Japan in March 2011, and sited some 105 kilometres from the epicentre of Saturday's quake. Likewise it said there were no issues at the Fukushima Daini facility, just to the south of the wrecked plant. Eneos Holdings Inc, Japan's biggest refining company, said its Sendai refinery, also located close to the epicentre, automatically shut down as the quake struck.

Source: Otago Daily Times May 01, 2021 08:37 UTC