Sadly, the Japanese are in need of prayer again as they battle mother nature this morning. A 7.3 Magnitude Earthquake struck Japan this morning, which has the country under alert for the possibility of yet another Tsunami.
CBS News Reports:
TOKYO – A strong earthquake has jolted northeastern Japan and authorities have issued a warning of a possible tsunami.
The Japan Meteorological Agency said the earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.3 struck in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Miyagi prefecture at 5:18 p.m. (0818 GMT) Friday.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no risk of a wider tsunami in along Japan’s coast, but a warning was issued for the coast of Miyagi, which was devastated by the much larger quake and following tsunami in March 2011.
National broadcaster NHK television broke off regular programming to warn that a strong quake was due to hit shortly before the earthquake struck. Afterward, the announcer repeatedly urged all near the northeast coast to flee to higher ground.
Friday’s quake was centered about 150 miles east of Sendai, the capital city of Miyagi.
Randy Baldwin, of the U.S. Geological Survey, told Sky News “this may be considered an aftershock itself,” from the 2011 temblor, as the tectonic plates under the region are still settling into place.
The earlier warning said the tsunami in northeastern Japan could be as high as 2 yards, but reports on Japanese television warned of a wave only about half that high.
Buildings in Tokyo swayed for at least several minutes as the quake struck.
The magnitude-9.0 earthquake and ensuing tsunami that slammed into northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011, killed or left missing some 19,000 people, devastating much of the coast. All but two of Japan’s nuclear plants were shut down for checks after the earthquake and tsunami caused meltdowns at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant in the worst nuclear disaster since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
Immediately following Friday’s quake, there were no problems at any of the nuclear plants operated by Fukushima Dai-Ichi operator Tokyo Electric Power Co., said a TEPCO spokesman, Takeo Iwamoto.
Praying for the Japanese.
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