Coming so soon after Sunday?s tunnel collapse raised?questions about Japan's?infrastructure, the absence of major damage from today's quake shows Japan?s level of preparedness for them.
People use mobile phones as they are stranded at Sendai railway station in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Friday, Dec. 7, after trains were halted following a strong earthquake that struck off the coast of northeastern Japan. It is the same region that was hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami last year.
Kyodo News/AP
EnlargeFor thousands of people living in the region of Japan devastated by last year?s triple disaster, Friday?s earthquake served as an unwelcome reminder of their vulnerability to sudden, violent seismic shifts ? and as a warning to the rest of the country.
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But thanks in large part to the sheer force of the March 11 tragedy, and painful memories of its human toll, people in the vicinity of the quake?s epicenter knew what to do as soon as TV stations issued a tsunami warning: Drop everything and head to higher ground.
As darkness descended, the sense on this occasion was one of relief, not the despair of 21 months ago. Two hours after the northeast coast was rattled by a magnitude-7.3 earthquake at 5:18 p.m. local time, it appeared that the region had escaped unscathed.
Coming at the end of a week in which questions were raised about the country?s infrastructure following last Sunday?s tunnel collapse, the absence of major damage from today's quake was testimony to Japan?s level of preparedness for powerful earthquakes ? specifically, the unrivaled ability of its specially designed buildings to withstand violent seismic activity that would have far more devastating consequences in other countries.
Japan?s advanced warning system gave people in the area as many as six minutes to take precautions between the first report of the quake and estimate of the its size and the actual arrival of the earthquake.
There were no signs of major structural damage, only a handful of reported injuries,?and, while a tsunami did arrive, at a little over 3 feet in height, it paled in comparison to the huge waves that laid waste to the same area last year, killing almost 20,000 people and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless.
Remember 2011
A third potential source of danger, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, also withstood Friday?s earthquake. The plant?s operator, Tokyo Electric Power, said it had found no signs of damage to the site?s crippled reactors or of radiation leaks.
Workers at the plant, who are struggling to treat and dispose of huge quantities of contaminated water used to cool the reactors before they can begin the long, dangerous process of removing melted fuel, were ordered to take shelter inside the facility. No one was injured, according to plant workers.
But any notions that the battered northeast had seen the end of new fallout from last year?s disaster were quickly dismissed when the meteorological agency announced that Friday?s quake was not the result of fresh seismic activity, but an aftershock from March 11.
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