Japan Nuclear Plant Reported in Flames after Earthquake

An ABC 24 screen grab showing a burning tank at a reffinery after a massive magnitude-8.9 earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, on 11 March 2011. Photo by EPA/BGNES

A fire is reported to be burning in the turbine building of the Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant, NPP, in Miyagi prefecture in the aftermath of the strongest ever earthquake to hit Japan.

The NPP is owned by Tohoku Elec's.

Japan authorities have announced they turned off 11 nuclear units without causing any damage. The country has 55 total such units.

An emergency situation had been declared at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant. The Japanese Economy Ministry announced power supply to one of the units has been stopped because its cooling system has failed. There are no reported radiation leaks.

Electric power has been cut off in many regions of the country – over 4 million homes are reported to be without power in the capital Tokyo. Many fires are burning, including one in an oil refinery near the capital.

22 aftershocks have been registered after the initial one with magnitude between 5.4 and 6.5 on the Richter scale, according to the US Geological Survey.

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