7.3 magnitude quake off the coast of Japan

The magnitude 7.3 quake struck late at night Tokyo time. It was located off the coast in the same general area as the 2011 earthquake which led to a massive tsunami and the disaster at the Fukushima power plant.

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The region is part of northern Japan that was devastated by a deadly 9.0 quake and tsunami 11 years ago that also caused nuclear plant meltdowns.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, which operates the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant where the cooling systems failed after the 2011 disaster, said that workers were checking for any possible damage.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the quake hit at 11:36 p.m. at a depth of 60 kilometers (36 miles) below the sea…

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters that the government was assessing the extent of damage and promised to do its utmost for rescue and relief operations.

“Please first take action to save your life,” Kishida tweeted.

Here’s a map of the epicenter:

A tsunami warning has been issued with an expected wave of about 1 meter along the coast closest to the epicenter. The NY Times reports there was a small wave of about 8 inches so not enough to do any real damage.

Meanwhile, as many as 2 million people are currently without power as a result of the quake, about 700,000 of them in Tokyo.

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There are already lots of clips recorded during the quake. Plenty of movement and people clearly worried but it doesn’t appear to have done much damage. This woman was on the 13th floor. (Some NSFW language.)

Another clip:

This clip from an 8th floor office shows the shaking was pretty severe in some areas.

This was shot in a hotel in Fukushima:

This one shows how strongly things were shaking outside.

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Also, cats apparently don’t care for earthquakes:

If you’ve never been in an earthquake, it’s a frightening experience. Part of it is that you can’t tell as it’s happening if it’s about to get much worse or if it’s about to settle down. I imagine for the people who lived through the 2011 quake in the same area this was pretty terrifying reminder. Finally, here’s one more clip from various cameras around the city.

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