Quakes jolt Nagano, Niigata prefectures

National Jul. 10, 2012 - 02:45PM JST ( 13 )

TOKYO —

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5 struck Nagano Prefecture at 12:48 p.m. Tuesday, the Japan Meteorological Agency reported. No tsunami alert was issued, the agency said.

The epicenter was located at a depth of 20 kilometers in northern Nagano, the agency said.

A second quake with a magnitude of 3.9 jolted Niigata Prefecture and parts of Nagano at 1:33 p.m., the agency said. Its epicenter was located about 10 kms deep in northern Nagano, the agency said.

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13 Comments

1

Darryl WoodrowJul. 10, 2012 - 02:46PM JST

I hope nobody was injured..
0

Herve Nmn L'EisaJul. 10, 2012 - 04:05PM JST

I think there were a total of four quakes.
1

OnniyamaJul. 10, 2012 - 04:16PM JST

Anyone here live up that way? Any damage?
2

SeawolfJul. 10, 2012 - 05:25PM JST

No tsunami alert was issued, the agency said

I would think so, as Nagano prefecture doesn't have any ocean to it, It's smack in the middle of Honshu!
-4

japan123Jul. 10, 2012 - 06:52PM JST

My worry is the earthquake in Niigata, where there are nuclear plants knowingly built on faulty lines and with poor safety and security record.
1

smithinjapanJul. 10, 2012 - 09:27PM JST

Hope everyone's okay.
0

Thomas Michael LewisJul. 11, 2012 - 12:17AM JST

Worth remembering Fukushima was damaged by a tsunami not an earthquake.
0

Shaun JohnsonJul. 11, 2012 - 02:07AM JST

As long as they were not in Fukushima near reactor 4 I think its good news...
2

Eleanor GoldsmithJul. 11, 2012 - 08:03AM JST

My worry is the earthquake in Niigata, where there are nuclear plants knowingly built on faulty lines and with poor safety and security record.

Just the one plant, but Kashiwazaki-Kariwa was the biggest in the world in terms of output until it was shut down after the Tohoku earthquake. And, as you say, it has a very poor safety record. I would have to admit to being very glad that I no longer live in Niigata, in that respect.

Worth remembering Fukushima was damaged by a tsunami not an earthquake.

I believe there is still some debate about this - I have a recollection of seeing a headline from a Japanese-language media story on Twitter recently that said that at least part of the damage was (or possibly was) caused by the quake, not the flooding by the tsunami.

I don't know what the risk of a tsunami on the Sea of Japan is, since it's a smaller body of water than the Pacific Ocean, but with all of Japan's nuclear plants using the sea as their ultimate heat sink (other countries also use lakes or even the air), a tsunami is a risk for all of them.
1

zichiJul. 11, 2012 - 08:28AM JST

Worth remembering Fukushima was damaged by a tsunami not an earthquake.

Not according to the report released by the gov't commission which investigated the cause of the disaster. They also called it a man made disaster.

Tsunami have happened in the Japan Sea but since more than 50% of the world's tsunami's are generated in the Pacific Ocean, a tsunami in the Japan Sea is less likely than on the Pacific side. But TEPCO and KEPCO are both increasing the size of their sea defenses.
0

jforceJul. 11, 2012 - 08:46AM JST

It's all good. Only the northern part of Nagano was shaking. Nothing new in those parts.
3

SquidBertJul. 11, 2012 - 11:40AM JST

Regarding earthquake caused damage, NHK reports today::

Fuel rod container at Onagawa plant found damaged

Japan's nuclear safety agency has ordered Tohoku Electric Power Company to check and report on whether the damage was caused by the massive earthquake on March 11th last year.

The utility recently used an underwater camera to inspect the 4.5-meter-high metal containers in a fuel rod storage pool.

It found a 2-centimeter-long, several-millimeter-wide chip on one of the containers. It also found more than 12 places on other containers where pieces were missing.

Such damage has never been reported at a nuclear plant in Japan.