Nuclear plant in Japan checked for damage after quake

Japanese authorities have conducted checks at a non-operational power plant in eastern Japan following a 5.0-magnitude earthquake in the region.

According to Press TV, the Tokai No 2 nuclear power station was checked for potential damage after the quake hit the region near the capital, Tokyo, on Sunday.

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the epicenter of the earthquake was 44 kilometers (27 miles) northeast of Tokyo at a depth of about as many kilometers.

There reportedly was no danger of a tsunami and there were no immediate reports of injuries or major damage.

Earthquakes frequently happen in Japan; a massive one rocked the country in March 2011 and caused a devastating tsunami, which left more than 19,000 people dead and missing.

The tsunami also crippled the country’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, and led to radioactive leakage. The nuclear crisis is considered the world’s worst since the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986.

The Tokai No 2 nuclear power station has reportedly been shut since the 2011 incident.

In April, two powerful earthquakes, measuring 6.2 and 7.0 magnitudes on the Richter scale, struck southwestern Japan. Some 44 people died in the quakes, and over 1,000 others were injured and tens of thousands of others were displaced.

ME