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No major casualties reported after 6.6-magnitude quake hits Japan

The weather agency initially reported the quake as magnitude 6.4 but later revised the figure to 6.6, Xinhua news agency reported.
03:24 PM Apr 18, 2024 IST | IANS
no major casualties reported after 6 6 magnitude quake hits japan
File Photo/ANI
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Tokyo, April 18: No major damages or fatal casualties had been reported after an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.6 hit western Japan, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters early Thursday.

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The quake struck at around 11:14 p.m. local time, registering lower 6 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 in Ainan, Ehime Prefecture, and Sukumo, Kochi Prefecture, both on Shikoku Island, with the epicentre in the Bungo Channel, a strait separating the islands of Kyushu and Shikoku, at a depth of 39 km, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).

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The quake left seven people with light injuries in Ehime and Kochi, and there were minor damages in some areas, including ruptured water pipes, dangling power cables, fallen streetlights, and a landslide on a national roadway, public broadcaster NHK reported Thursday morning.

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The weather agency initially reported the quake as magnitude 6.4 but later revised the figure to 6.6, Xinhua news agency reported.

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It was the first time since 1996 when the current seismic intensity scale was introduced that a quake with an intensity of lower 6 or higher has hit the island of Shikoku, located on Japan's Pacific coast, the JMA said.

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The quake caused no major damage to the Ikata nuclear power plant in Ehime Prefecture, the operator Shikoku Electric Power Co. said.

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Kyushu Electric Power Co. also said no abnormalities had been detected at the Sendai nuclear power plant in Kagoshima Prefecture on Kyushu Island.

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