Tokyo, March 30: An earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale has shaken off the east coast of Japan’s Honshu amid a nuclear crisis, the US Geological Survey says.
The earthquake occurred at 05:29 GMT on Wednesday as the nuclear crisis is worsening in the quake-hit country, Xinhua reported.
The epicenter, with a depth of 30.30 km, was initially determined to be at 36.1348 degrees north latitude and 142.4331 degrees east longitude.
On March 11, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake was followed by gigantic tsunami waves, disabling the generator supplying power to the Fukushima nuclear plant’s cooling system, and causing hazardous radiation due to overheating.
Following the earthquake, radioactive leakage is said to have damaged fuel rods in reactors number one, two and three.
The International Atomic Energy Agency is expected to help seek a solution to the Asian country’s nuclear crisis.
Japan has announced that nearly 28,000 people have died or are feared dead as a result of the disastrous quake and tsunami.
——–Agencies