Fukushima Earthquake

It’s half an hour before midnight, you wash your face, brush your teeth, and get ready for bed after a long, tiring day. COVID-19 already made life difficult and stressful, but you’ve managed to adjust. Protecting your family is the top priority and just as you call it a night, you hear a rumble. Suddenly there’s a crash. Now everything is shaking violently. It’s impossible to take a step forward without losing your balance. Then it hits you, what this odd occurrence may be. It’s an earthquake: a strong one as well.

On Saturday February 13, 2021 around 11:30 PM, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.3 struck Japan. It hit the Tohoku region, Japan’s east coast, but mainly impacted the Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures located within Tohoku. Multiple aftershocks followed soon after and it’s magnitude ranged, but the highest strength went up to around 5.3. An earthquake of this degree was capable of “produc[ing] powerful shaking along the coast and was felt strongly in the capital, Tokyo”, however it “triggered no tsunami alert” (Aljazeera). Not only was there no tsunami alert, this entire earthquake was also considered a mere “aftershock” that followed the Tohoku earthquake almost ten years ago. On the other hand, the Fukushima nuclear power plants displayed no sign of abnormalities, a positive aspect in the midst of chaos.

Fortunately there were no deaths caused by this incident. However, that does not imply that there were no casualties at all. More than 150 people were wounded and according to Japan’s disaster agency, injuries to the people within Tohoku’s prefectures range from “broken bones to cuts from shattered glass”. The scenery also took plenty of damage. There were reports of landslides which impeded highways and roads. Furthermore, at least 950,000 homes in the Fukushima prefecture and its neighboring areas lost power. As this happened in the middle of the night, it was one of the worst times to have a blackout and not be able to turn on the lights to see, especially since belongings crashed down and everything was scattered all over the floor. So not only was the floor dangerous to walk on, you had to scream to confirm whether your family was alright.

As much as this uncalled for earthquake caused plenty of physical damage, it also rattled the hearts of Japanese citizens. Hoshino, a bar owner located in Iwaki, expressed her exhausted state of mind by stating, “We were hit by this coronavirus pandemic, and so we were looking forward to reopening our shops, and now this happens.” According to her, “It’s just one thing after another,” (Murakami). Now Hoshino cleans up the glass shard from broken whiskey bottles in her bar, more monetary loss from the wasted alcohol on top of the lack of sales due to the shut down. It can only be assumed how tired people must be after having many unfortunate events occur back to back. Citizens were also terrified by this recent earthquake as it “brought back frightening memories” (Murakami) of the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake. Earthquakes in general are not an uncommon phenomenon in Japan for they are typically minor, but the recent one reminded Japanese citizens of the 9.0 magnitude earthquake that occurred March 11, 2011. The past earthquake that occurred almost a decade ago caused a tsunami afterwards which killed more people and triggered a nuclear accident at Fukushima’s power plants. Since this recent Fukushima earthquake was also strong, and therefore similar, it is not surprising for old, traumatic memories to arise. As the quaking began Hoshino recalled, “My body immediately reacted, and I couldn’t stop trembling. My legs were shaking too, but I couldn’t gauge whether it was safer to run out or stay in, so I ended up doing a weird little dance.” Authorities are now working to confirm people’s safety and rebuilding communities.

References

Al Jazeera. “Blackouts, Injuries as Quake Hits off Japan's Fukushima Coast.” Earthquakes News | Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 14 Feb. 2021, www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/2/13/strong-quake-hits-off-japan-coast-triggering-blackouts.

Murakami, Sakura, and Issei Kato. “Japan Quake Brings Back Memories of Deadly 2011 Tsunami.” Reuters, Thomson Reuters, 14 Feb. 2021, www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-quake/japan-quake-brings-back-memories-of-deadly-2011-tsunami-idUSKBN2AE01Y.

“Powerful Magnitude 7.3 Earthquake Jolts Fukushima Area.” The Japan Times, www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/02/14/national/earthquake-fukushima/.