New Delhi: Four people were killed and over 90 injured in a powerful earthquake that hit Japan Wednesday night, reported news agency Reuters. The quake of magnitude 7.3 on the Richter scale jolted east Japan and prompted tsunami warnings.
Local authorities and residents are still trying to asses the damage caused by the quake.
“We’re doing our best to assess the extent of the damage,” said government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno as reported by news agency AFP
“Major aftershocks often happen a couple of days after the first quake, so please stay away from any collapsed buildings… and other high-risk places,” he added.
The tsunami warning was lifted Thursday morning after authorities recorded water levels a few centimeters higher than usual in some areas.
Several aftershocks were also felt by the resident of east Japan through Wednesday night and early morning today. More than two million households were left without power, including 700,000 in capital Tokyo.
There hasn’t bee reports of severe damage in the region so far. Japan has tough building laws as earthquakes in the country occur frequently.
“The quake struck at a depth of 60 kilometres (37 miles) off the Fukushima coast and was preceded minutes earlier by another strong 6.1-magnitude shake in the same area,” Japan’s Meteorological Agency was quoted by AFP.
In 2011, a major earthquake had hit the region and triggered tsunami in which over 18,000 were either reported dead or missing. It had also caused a massive disaster at the Fukushima nuclear plant.