A 7.1 magnitude earthquake shook Fukushima in Japan on Saturday leaving at least 30 people injured and causing widespread electricity outages in the region. The earthquake also forced the closure of all the main roads near the region along with a complete suspension of train service. Fortunately, the Japan Times reported that no Tsunami warnings are in effect due to the earthquake.

The shocking news comes just one day after an earthquake was felt across the northern regions of India including Delhi, Punjab and Kashmir. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the epicenter of the quake was near the coast of Fukushima, which is around 220 kilometers north of Tokyo. Due to the earthquake, a massive landslide has cut off a huge chunk of the artery through the Fukushima Prefecture. The strong bolts of the quake were felt across Japan including Tokyo, the country’s capital.

The earthquake is a grim reminder of the 2011 earthquake of 8.9-magnitude that devastated Japan. The earthquake and the Tsunami which followed ended up taking the lives of more than 16,000 people. The earthquake caused a chain reaction of mishaps and ended up triggering the infamous Fukushima nuclear disaster.

The Fukushima nuclear disaster forced more than 1,64,000 people to flee the region and is considered to be more severe than the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster The 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster left more than 19,000 people dead or missing and led to the meltdown of three nuclear units in the Fukushima nuclear plant.

After the earthquake on Saturday late evening, Japan Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga ordered an immediate probe of the damage caused. The earthquake originated from a depth of around 60 kilometers of Japan’s Fukushima Prefecture. Although no tsunami warnings are in effect as of now, the people who reside near the coastal areas of the region are advised to evacuate to higher ground.

Brace yourself for the after effect 

A professor at the Earthquake Research Institute at the University of Tokyo, Takashi Furumura, spoke to NHK where he warned the Japanese citizens that another quake of the same magnitude and scale can follow within the next two days

Japan’s long history with earthquakes  

A dozen high-impact earthquakes have struck Japan in the last ten years or so. This is due to the fact that Japan is placed within the Ring of Fire which is a highly earthquake-prone area in the Pacific Ocean which witnesses high seismic activity. Stats suggest that Japan accounts for 20% of earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more from all around the world.

These powerful earthquakes have triggered several tsunamis and landslides that have uprooted several regions of Japan and left countless homeless.

More than 40 people lost their lives in 2016 after two earthquakes shook Kyushu’s southern island. The largest of the two earthquakes was of 7.0 magnitude, close to the intensity of the quake felt on Saturday. Although no deaths have been reported so far, in the 2016 quake, several people died in the fires and quake caused landslides.

Two years later, in 2018, millions of people lost their electricity after a powerful quake shook the northern island of Hokkaido. A dozen people died due to the quake triggered landslides. That earthquake came just days after a large typhoon had struck Japan.