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.
