Powerful Quake Rocks Hokkaido, Northern Japan

September 6, 2018

Sapporo- A powerful earthquake measuring up to the second-highest level of upper 6 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale rocked Hokkaido, northernmost Japan, in the small hours of Thursday, killing at least two people and leaving five with no signs of life.

At least 120 people were injured, local authorities said, adding that safety is unknown for 30 others, all in the town of Atsuma.

The quake, which occurred in the central-eastern part of the Iburi region in southwestern Hokkaido at a depth of 37 kilometers around 3:08 a.m. (6:08 p.m. Wednesday GMT), had an estimated magnitude of 6.7, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

It registered upper 6 on the Japanese scale in the town of Abira, lower 6 in the city of Chitose, upper 5 in the Hokkaido capital of Sapporo and the city of Tomakomai, and lower 5 in the cities of Hakodate and Muroran.

The temblor caused landslides and house collapses in a number of locations. An official of the agency warned of possible aftershocks of up to upper 6 over the next week or so.

It was the first time for Hokkaido to experience an earthquake with an intensity of upper 6 or higher since the readings of 5 and 6 were divided into lower 5 and upper 5, and lower 6 and upper 6, respectively, in 1996.

The inland quake triggered no tsunami, according to the agency. Electricity supply was cut at all of some 2.95 million households in Hokkaido after the powerful quake.

In the town of Mukawa, a man was crushed to death under a chest of drawers. One person also died, in the town of Shinhidaka. In the Horosato district in Atsuma, five people were found in a state of cardiac arrest, including an 83-year-old woman crushed under a collapsed house.

In the Yoshino district in Atsuma, a large-scale landslide occurred, causing nine people to be buried, while 14 people remain unaccounted for, according to sources including the Hokkaido prefectural government and the prefectural police department.

Seven people also went missing in Atsuma, the local authorities said, noting that landslides occurred in other districts of the town.

In Sapporo, houses collapsed and soil liquefaction happened. In Muroran, a fire broke out at a plant of Mitsubishi Steel Mfg. Co. <5632> due to an oil leak. It was extinguished later.

The meteorological agency said that tremors with the highest intensity reading of 7 on the Japanese seismic scale are estimated to have occurred in some areas in Chitose and Abira, considering seismometer data and the vulnerability to shakes of the ground in the areas.

Noting that data from several seismometers installed at locations near the epicenter of Thursday's earthquake are still unavailable, the agency said that the temblor may have registered upper 6 also in Atsuma.

According to Hokkaido Electric Power Co., the all-out power outage came as all of its thermal power plants in Hokkaido came to a halt. It is not known when power supply will be resumed, the company said.

With almost all traffic lights in Hokkaido not working, police are calling on residents to avoid going out as much as possible. Water supply was also cut in wide areas.

Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshige Seko told reporters in Tokyo, "It is expected to take more than a week before electricity is fully restored throughout Hokkaido."

Turbines and boilers at the power supplier's largest thermal power plant, in Atsuma, were damaged by the quake, and over one week will be needed for bringing it back online, the minister said.

Hokkaido Railway Co., or JR Hokkaido, suspended services on all of its train lines, including the high-speed Hokkaido Shinkansen Line, which links Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station in Hokkaido and Shin-Aomori Station in Aomori Prefecture, which faces the island prefecture across the Tsugaru Strait.

All flights scheduled to depart from and arrive at New Chitose Airport in Hokkaido on Thursday were canceled as the airport's terminal building was closed due to water leaks although no damage was found on its runways, the transport ministry's New Chitose Airport office said.

According to the secretariat of the Nuclear Regulation Authority, external power supply stopped at Hokkaido Electric's Tomari nuclear power station after the quake. But emergency diesel generators were activated to continue the cooling of the spent nuclear fuel pools.

The external power sources for all three reactors at the nuclear plant were restored by early Thursday afternoon, the secretariat said.

The three reactors at the plant in the village of Tomari are currently offline, with all nuclear fuel assemblies kept in the storage pools.

In Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told relevant government ministries and agencies to do all they can to rescue victims, ensure safe evacuation of residents and restore infrastructure.

After the quake, Hokkaido Governor Harumi Takahashi asked the central government for the dispatch of Self-Defense Forces personnel.

At a ministerial meeting on Thursday morning, Abe said that 4,000 SDF troops have already started work in Hokkaido and indicated a plan to increase the number to 25,000. Jiji Press