Japan’s “Second‑Chance” Earthquake Leaves Hundreds Hurt and Trains on the Breadcrumb Trail
Just when the country thought it could finally relax after the 2011 tsunami drama, a big 7.3‑magnitude tremor shook up the northeast, hitting the same part of Fukushima that caused a tsunami a decade ago. The shake came right after midnight Saturday, catching everyone off‑guard.
What went nuts in the streets
- Walls went crooked and windows said “break-out” – a classic case of structural drama.
- The quake fired a landslide that made areas in Fukushima look like a minefield.
- Even Tokyo felt the tremor a few hundred kilometres away – the city’s skyscrapers dipped in a seismic dance.
Power, water, and the great post‑quake scramble
After the quake, hundreds of thousands of buildings lost power. By the next morning, most lights flickered back on, except for a few thousand homes still staring around for water. Residents collected plastic jugs and queued up at truck stops hoping for a refill.
No tragic headlines – just a worry‑warts of past disasters
- At least 104 people got hurt, some with fractures – no fatalities reported.
- No tsunami made an appearance this time.
- All nuclear plants stayed calm and the authorities said no irregularities were spotted.
- Still, the shockwave from 2011’s March 11 earthquake — the tsunami that killed almost 20,000 and triggered the worst nuclear crisis in 25 years — sailed back into people’s memories.
Train trouble: the Shinkansen sputters
The bullet‑train network had to pull its plugs: services halted across northern Japan due to track damage. One line might stay out of service until at least Tuesday.
Japan: the world’s seismic hotspot
As one of the most quake‑prone countries, Japan accounts for about 20 per cent of all earthquakes above magnitude 6 worldwide.
