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TOKYO — A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 struck off the northern Japanese coast early Thursday, injuring at least 43 people, causing blackouts and landslides, officials said.
The Meteorological Agency said there was no danger of a tsunami, or seismic waves, from the 12:26 a.m. quake, which occurred about 120 kilometres below the ocean's surface off the coast of Iwate.
The offshore earthquake caused strong shaking in northern Japan, injuring at least 43 people, a National Police Agency official said on condition of anonymity, citing department policy. Most of their injuries were cuts and bruises from broken glasses and falling objects, and none of them were life threatening, he said.
The quake was believed to have lasted about 30-40 seconds. Railway operators said that they had already stopped trains so that tracks could be inspected.
No abnormalities had been detected at the nearest nuclear power plant in the area, which continued controlled operations, according to local media reports.
In Iwate near the quake's centre, two people suffered cuts as they stepped on broken glasses, according to local police official Yoshiharu Sasaki.
Fire and Disaster Management Agency official Mitsuya Kimoto said another Iwate resident was injured when hit by a falling drawer, and a 69-year-old woman in nearby Aomori broke her leg when she fell down stairs.
Disaster Minister Shinya Izumi told reporters that the earthquake caused a blackout in wide areas in the region, leaving about 6,700 homes without electricity. A team of officials from the ministry are headed to the region to assess the extent of damage and oversee the rescue or relief operations.
The earthquake also triggered landslides at several locations, NHK said.
Tomio Kudo, a grocery shop owner in the town of Hirono, where the shaking was most violently felt, told an interview with public broadcaster NHK.
“Everything has fallen off the shelves, scattered all over the floor,” he said. “Even a big refrigerator has moved about 30 centimetres.”
Koji Yoshida, an official for Morioka Fire Department in nearby Aomori, said the tremor was strong but nothing fell off shelves.
Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries.
Last month, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck sparsely populated rural areas in northern Japan, killing at least 12 people, leaving 10 others missing and injuring more than 300.
Meteorological Agency official Takashi Yokota warned of possible aftershocks from Thursday's quake.
