UPDATE 4 - Strong Quake Hits Off Japan's Fukushima Prefecture

TOKYO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th February, 2021) A strong 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck off Japan's Fukushima Prefecture on Saturday night, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

The quake was initially measured at 7.1 on the Richter scale.

"Although there may be slight sea-level changes in coastal regions/ this earthquake has caused no damage to Japan," the agency said.

The tremor was registered near the eastern coast of the Honshu island at 11:07 p.m. local time (14:07 GMT) at a depth of 60 kilometers (37 miles).

The initial quake was followed by 12 jolts measuring as high as 5.1 on the Richter scale. There were no tsunami warnings.

More than 50 people were hurt, the Kyodo news agency cited local authorities as saying. Many injuries resulted from falling. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga told reporters in the early hours of Sunday that no major casualties were reported.

The quake rocked the Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures. Tremors were felt as far as Tokyo. Blackouts were reported in 950,000 households in the capital and suburbs.

The government has set up a task force. Suga asked the cabinet to conduct a survey to assess damage and organize a rescue operation.

Japan's Self-Defense Forces were put on high alert in preparation for possible calls to assist in rescue efforts, chief cabinet secretary Katsunobu Kato told reporters.

The cabinet will hold an emergency meeting at 9 a.m. (midnight GMT) to take stock of the situation.

Kato said a fire broke out, a property was destroyed and train services were shut down in the country's northeast in the aftermath of the quake.

Japanese electric utility TEPCO said its defunct Tokai nuclear power plant northeast of Tokyo had not been affected, according to Kyodo.

Kato told reporters that no abnormalities were reported at the mothballed Onagawa nuclear power plant and the disabled Fukushima Daini.

The public broadcaster NHK reported later that the notorious Fukushima Daiichi power plant was not hit.

The chairwoman of the Japan Meteorological Agency told a news conference that Saturday's earthquakes were likely an aftershock of the devastating 9.0-magnitude quake that devastated Japan in 2011 and crippled Fukushima Daiichi.