News
25/06/26
Japan's northeast hit by earthquake, energy sites safe
Tokyo, 25 June (Argus) — A 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck northeastern Japan
today. No major damage to nuclear power plants or thermal power facilities and
domestic refineries has been reported so far, according to industry sources
contacted by Argus . The earthquake occurred off the coast of Iwate prefecture
at 07:30 on 25 June Japan time (22:30 GMT on 24 June), according to the Japan
Meteorological Agency. The quake registered an upper-6 seismic intensity — the
second-highest level on Japan's shindo scale — in Aomori prefecture. There is no
risk of a tsunami from the earthquake, the agency said. Japanese prime minister
Sanae Takaichi also said there was no risk of a tsunami. The government would
assess the damage and work to respond to the disaster, she added. The earthquake
did not affect power generation facilities in the Tohoku area, with no damage
reported to nuclear, thermal, hydroelectric, or renewable power plants, Tohoku
Electric Power told Argus . Around 4.6GW of coal-fired capacity and 7.9GW of
gas-fed capacity were available for operation in Tohoku as of 25 June, according
to a power plant operational status notice by the Japan Electric Power Exchange.
The 825MW Onagawa No.2 nuclear reactor in Miyagi, close to the earthquake's
epicentre off the Iwate coast, continues to operate. No damage was reported at
the Rokkasho nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in Aomori, which is scheduled to
begin operations in the April 2027-March 2028 fiscal year. Two major biomass
power plants in Tohoku — the 75MW unit at Ofunato in Iwate and a similar-sized
plant at Hachinohe in Aomori — were also unaffected, sources told Argus . In
Hokkaido, where the quake registered at 4 on Japan's seismic intensity scale in
some areas, there was no damage to power generation facilities, a representative
at Hokkaido Electric Power said. No nuclear reactors are currently operating in
Hokkaido, with the 2,070MW Tomari nuclear plant remaining safely closed.
Japanese refiner Eneos operates the 145,000 b/d Sendai refinery in Miyagi. But
the earthquake had no impact on Eneos' facilities including refineries, the
company said. By Fumito Nagase, Motoko Hasegawa, Kohei Yamamoto, Takeshi Maeda,
Reina Maeda, Nanami Oki Send comments and request more information at
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