Japanese people worried about tsunamis and aftershocks spend the night in evacuation centers

#Japanese #people #worried #tsunamis #aftershocks #spend #night #evacuation #centers

In Japan, thousands of people are spending the night in evacuation centers after a 7.6-magnitude earthquake shook the country, reports the BBC.

A 7.6-magnitude earthquake is considered strong, there are twenty such earthquakes in the world every year. The earthquake struck around 16:10 local time on Monday and was followed by more than 60 aftershocks. The earthquake mainly shook the western coast of the island of Honsú. A tsunami warning was issued shortly after, which was later downgraded – but the new warning says there is still a chance of a 3m tsunami.

“The public should be alert for possible further tremors. I ask you to evacuate buildings as soon as possible in areas where a tsunami is expected,” said Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kisida.

As for the damage, dozens of buildings collapsed in several cities, burying an unknown number of people under the rubble. According to the Kyodo news agency, there are at least two victims of the earthquake, and this number is expected to rise in the coming days.

A fire destroyed a row of houses in the town of Vadzima, close to the epicenter, and people were evacuated in the dark. Local hospitals reported that many injured people had arrived for treatment, although damaged roads made it difficult to transport patients, the Guardian reports.

The full extent of the damage will not be clear until Tuesday morning. However, surveys have already begun in some areas: According to Ishikawa prefecture officials, several houses and electricity poles have collapsed in the city of Suzu. More than 36,000 households were left without electricity near the epicenter of the earthquake. Several hundreds of meters of the main expressway between the cities of Toyama and Kanazawa were destroyed by a landslide, the express train stopped in Ishikawa prefecture, and the Internet is also down in some places.

Japan’s nuclear regulatory authority said no problems had been reported at nuclear power plants along the Sea of ​​Japan. There are 22 reactors in six facilities on the affected coast. Hokuriku’s Sika power plant in Isikava, which was the closest to the quake site, shut down two of its reactors before the quake.