The number of injured rises to thirty due to the strong 7.5 magnitude earthquake in northern Japan

Tokyo.- At least thirty people were injured in relation to the 7.5 magnitude earthquake that struck northern Japan late Monday, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi reported this Tuesday, who asked to take extreme precautions against the possibility of a similar or greater earthquake in the coming days. "So far, we have received reports of 30 injured and a fire in a home, and we are still working to assess the extent of the damage," the leader said upon her arrival at the Kantei, the central government headquarters in Tokyo, in statements to the press broadcast by the public broadcaster NHK. Takaichi urged the population to remain prepared for potential evacuations like the one in the last few hours, which specifically affected more than 20,000 people after the meteorological authorities issued a tsunami alert that affected the Pacific coasts of the archipelago, where tide rises of up to 70 centimeters were observed. The earthquake occurred at 23:15 on Monday (14:15 GMT) in the sea off the coast of Aomori Prefecture (northeast) with an epicenter 50 kilometers deep and a preliminary magnitude of 7.6, later revised to 7.5.

Damage assessment continues

The earthquake reached level 6 upper on the Japanese seismic scale of 7 levels in the northeast of the territory, focused on measuring the shaking on the surface and its destructive potential. By the early hours of this Tuesday, at least 15 tremors of magnitude greater than 3 had occurred, including one of 6.4 at 6:52 (21:52 GMT on Monday), although the damage is still being assessed. The authorities have activated a special alert due to the possibility of an unusually large earthquake occurring in the area in the coming days. The Japanese archipelago had not experienced an earthquake of this magnitude since the 7.6 magnitude earthquake on New Year's Day 2024 in the Noto Peninsula, a rural and aging area in the central zone of the Sea of Japan coast, which severely devastated several towns and resulted in the loss of around 400 lives. Japan sits on the so-called Ring of Fire, one of the world's most active seismic zones, and suffers earthquakes relatively frequently, so its infrastructure is specially designed to withstand tremors.

Partially suspend bullet train operations

On the other hand, the railway company East Japan Railway (JR East) partially suspended operations on Tuesday of some of its 'shinkansen' bullet train services, the high-speed ones, in the north of the territory to carry out equipment inspections following the strong 7.5 magnitude earthquake the previous night. Services were suspended until further notice on the Tohoku Line between Morioka city, in Iwate prefecture, and Shin-Aomori, in neighboring Aomori prefecture, the company said in a statement, an area where the epicenter of the earthquake was located and where authorities continue to assess the extent of the damage. JR East also announced delays on the section between Morioka and Tokyo, and urged travelers to follow the news on their website due to the possibility of other services being affected. The region's 'shinkansen' service was already impacted then, when three trains were temporarily stranded on the tracks after the usual emergency stops in these circumstances. Two of the three trains resumed their journey around two in the morning, while another had to remain stopped at Shichinohe-Towada station in Aomori, affecting 94 passengers, according to details published by the local newspaper Yomiuri.