M7.1 off the coast of Fukushima

[railsquid]

Ca. 23:08 local; max intensity 6+; no tsunami warning; details: https://www.jma.go.jp/en/quake/20210213141302393-13230800.html

 

Went on for a relatively long time.

Edited February 13 by railsquid
fix link

[Yavianice]

The epicenter seems very close to the dai-ichi Fukushima nuclear plant.

 

nuclear plants are reporting no irregularities.

Edited February 13 by Yavianice

[railsquid]

Seems still to be standing 😉 https://www.tepco.co.jp/decommission/progress/about/livecamera/index-j.html

 

Funnily enough the other day I stumbled on the iodine tablets the British Embassy distributed in 2011.

[railsquid]

Reclassified as M7.3.

 

Evidently no major damage; severe enough to warrant late-night press conferences from the government, not severe enough for the government to start giving press conferences wearing boiler suits and worse, helmets.

Edited February 13 by railsquid

[Ewan.in.gz]

I heard there was an expressway damaged, but how has it affected JR East and other railway operators?

[Yavianice]

@Ewan.in.gz yes, there was an avalanche near Soma, blocking the Joban Expressway. Current status of closed highways 

since its dark atm in Japan, we probably won’t hear about destroyed railway lines until daybreak or later.

 

[railsquid]

No railway damage reported yet, though most lines in the most affected area are suspended this morning.

 

Ca. 100 injuries, fairly widespread minor damage, the odd collapsed wooden building.

[Ewan.in.gz]

So far, most of the news about last night's earthquake I've seen here in China has been focussed on the Fukushima Daiichi plant....

 

But I certainly wouldn't expect Japanese lines to operate after an earthquake until they've been thoroughly inspected and had damage repaired!

[railsquid]

Per JR East:

 

Quote

Due to the earthquake that occurred off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture on February 13, the Tohoku Shinkansen has been suspended from operating between Nasushiobara and Morioka. Currently, we are checking the damage situation, but major damage to the Shinkansen facilities was confirmed, such as damage to civil engineering structures and broken or tilted utility poles between Shin-Shirakawa and Furukawa. Therefore, it is expected that it will take about 10 days to resume the operation of all lines of the Tohoku Shinkansen. In addition, we will strive for early recovery, including the resumption of operation in some sections.

 

[Yavianice]

Here is the damage on the shinkansen line near koriyama station

Edited February 14 by Yavianice

[Yavianice]

In case anyone wants to see what it is like to be in an E5 Shinkansen during the earthquake:

 

 

[railsquid]

Line fully reopened as of today (Yahoo news link in Japanese: https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/fb845e660dbc37f8bc64bd64b47ec72531c086e6)

[Kiha66]

Impressive speed!  Glad JR was able to get it back up and running so quickly.

[railsquid]

A couple of videos which popped up on my Youtube feed.

 

NHK broadcast from just before the earthquake:

 

 

Someone driving their car:

 

 

Cats reacting:

 

 

[JR 500系]

That was scary.... having never experienced an earthquake myself, that was un-nerving... My prayers are with the Japanese and hope everyone is fine...