Shallow M5.9 earthquake hits Japan, killing at least 3 and injuring more than 350
A strong earthquake registered by the JMA as M5.9 hit Osaka, Japan at 22:58 UTC on June 17, 2018 (07:58 JST, June 18), killing at least 4 people and injuring 370. The quake hit at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles). The USGS registered it as M5.3 at a depth of 15.4 km (9.5 miles).
The epicenter was located 1.9 km (1.2 miles) SSW of Takatsuki (population 354 468), 3.9 km (2.4 miles) ENE of Ibaraki (population 273 992), 4.6 km (2.8 miles) WNW of Hirakata (population 406 331), 7.7 km (4.8 miles) NNW of Neyagawa (population 238 549) and 18.2 km (11.3 miles) NNE of Osaka (population 2 592 413).
The quake hit at the morning rush hour, killing at least 4 people and injuring 370. A 9-year-old girl was killed after damaged wall trapped her in a swimming pool facility in Takatsuki city. An 85-year-old man died when a damaged block wall trapped him in Yodagawa-ku. The third victim was an 80-year-old man who was crushed by a falling bookshelf at his home in Ibaraki.
Authorities said 700 people fled to evacuation centers.
Several roads suffered severe damage and water pipes burst. Local media said firefighters have put out several house fires in northern Osaka.
Some 170 000 homes and businesses suffered temporary power outages, resolved within hours after the quake.
Osaka prefectural office said water and gas supply has been cut to 108 000 homes.
Thousands of passengers were stranded when local trains and bullet trains suspended operations.
According to NHK, officials in neighboring Fukui Prefecture say they've checked all the 15 nuclear reactors there, both online and offline, and no problems have been found.
Several key industrial areas near Osaka were affected, with companies like Panasonic and Daihatsu saying they were suspending production at their affected sites.
Update
June 19
334 buildings were damaged and 1 809 people displaced in shelters in the prefectures of Kyoto, Osaka and Hyogo.
A M4.6 aftershock has been registered in the same area at 15:31 UTC on June 18 at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles).
Featured image: Damage after M5.9 earthquake hits Japan on June 17, 2018 (UTC).
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We better keep the grids up or else there will be a massive meltdown all over the world. Not too mention eaten by zombies. Everything else we can adapt to over time including earthquakes.
24 hours before this event, I wrote on linkedin and the facebook of the Helical Universe the following.
The geological upheaval around the ring of fire will intensify in the coming weeks. Now, every day there is new eruption. However, Japan should phase out all its nuclear power reactors as soon as possible.
Japan lies along the Pacific Ring of Fire a narrow zone around the pacific ocean where a large chunk of Earth’s earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur. Roughly 90 percent of all the world’s earthquakes and 80 percent of the largest ones strike along the Ring of Fire. Japan has such a large potential for earthquakes and disaster because the nation sits atop four huge slabs of the Earth’s crust, called tectonic plates. These plates mash and grind together and trigger deadly earthquakes, The country also has118 volcanoes and around 100 of them are active, more than any other country and accounts alone for about 10 % of all active volcanoes in the world.
https://lnkd.in/eDqQihK