A 5.3-magnitude earthquake has been recorded nearby Fukushima, about 50 miles away from the nuclear power plant damaged in a 2011 earthquake and tsunami. There are no reports of damage to the facility or spikes in radiation, and as the earthquake occurred beneath land this time, no threat of another tsunami.
The plant, which is still unstable and is leaking radioactive water, still poses an imminent threat. Hours before the quake struck, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had visited the site and urged TEPCO, the plant's operator, to decommission the two reactors that had escaped damaged two years ago. He wanted them shut down, he explained, so that the plant's workers could focus all of their energy on containing the leaks.
Fukushima lies in what's known as the "Ring of Fire," a hot zone of earthquake and volcanic activity. About 90 percent of the world's quakes occur there, adding underlying urgency to the poorly controlled situation at the plant.
Shares