On Thursday morning at 3:08 am, Hokkaido, the second largest island of Japan was struck by a 6.7 magnitude earthquake, cutting power throughout the island. The US Geological Survey says that it struck around 68km south-east of Sapporo, Hokkaido’s main city.  

Compared to Japan’s 2011 earthquake which reached a staggering 8.9 magnitude, this earthquake was merely just a rumble; however, the earthquake still managed to cut the energy to large areas of the island and cause multiple landslides. As of now, the earthquake has killed at least 2 people and left hundreds injured. Although the earthquake triggered numerous landslides in Atsuma, a town in the lower region on Hokkaido, it wasn’t strong enough to pose a tsunami risk. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that, “25,000 Self-Defense Force troops” were to be deployed for rescue operations, and that saving people’s lives is “the government’s utmost priority. 

The Tomari nuclear power station, which was shut shortly after the massive 2011 earthquake, relied on emergency backup power after the electricity had been completely cut out. The station reported no “irregularities and its fuel rods were cooling safely in a pool”, told Operator Hokkaido Electric Power Co to NHK. The atomic regulator said the diesel generators have “enough fuel to last seven days.” A series of smaller shocks followed the initial earthquake, including one with a magnitude of 5.4, the Meteorological Agency said.  

Kazuo Kibayashi, 51, a town official at Abira, one of many towns hit by the aftershocks said:   “There was a sudden, extreme jolt. I felt it went sideways, not up-and-down, for about two to three minutes.” During an early morning news conference official, Toshiyuki Matsumori warned residents to expect major aftershocks in the coming days. 

Japan is positioned on an arc of volcanoes and oceanic trenches that partially encloses the Pacific Basin, known as the “Ring of Fire.” Therefore, Japan experiences a large amount of the world’s earthquakes, mostly magnitudes 6 or greater.