Onagawa Nuclear Plant Closed After 7.2 M Earthquake, Residents Asked To Find Higher Places

Illustration (Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Authorities issued a tsunami warning for Japan on Saturday, March 20 after an earthquake measuring 7.2 magnitudes off the coast of Miyagi prefecture.

Reportedly, waves up to 1 meter hit parts of the Japanese coast after the earthquake.

"Local television channel NHK reported that the first tsunami waves as high as 1 meter (3.2 feet) hit the land. Not long after, the earthquake occurred," as quoted from DW.Com, Saturday, March 20.

Officials said that there were no immediate reports of injuries or major damage. Tohoku Electric Power Co reportedly shut down the Onagawa nuclear plant due to checking for irregularities.

Meanwhile, Tokyo Electric Power checked the condition of the Fukushima Dai-Ichi power plant, which was damaged by the 2011 earthquake. The US consulate in Sapporo told people in the area to "look for higher ground."

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said the quake occurred at 6:09 p.m. local time (09:09 GMT/UTC) at a depth of 60 kilometers (37 miles) in Pacific waters off the coast of the Miyagi region.

A video shared by NHK shows how the earthquake was felt in the city of Sendai in Miyagi prefecture. Today's earthquake comes not long after the country marked 10 years since the deadly earthquake of magnitude 9.0 on March 11, 2011.

The events of a decade ago caused a catastrophe three times as much as the tsunami that destroyed the Fukushima nuclear power plant.