Radiation Leak in Japanese Onagawa Plant in Quake Aftermath

The Onagawa NPP was damaged by the latest strong aftershock to hit Japan Thursday night. Photo by EPA/BGNES

Four people have died and over 100 are injured from the aftershock of 7.1 point magnitude on the Richter scale earthquake that rocked northeastern Japan Thursday evening.

The victims are listed as two women, 63 and 83, and two men, 79 and 85.

The earthquake also damaged the Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant, where a leak of radioactive water is reported by Japanese TV, citing the NPP operator Tokyo Electric Power. The leak comes from the pools where the used fuel of reactors one and two is stored, but no elevated levels of radiation have been recorded.

The shock was registered at 11:32 pm local time (5:32 pm Bulgarian time) and has an epicenter in the Pacific, 49-meters deep, according to the US Geological Survey.

Eyewitnesses say many buildings have been damaged; there are also reported fires and damage in the gas supply system; over 3.6 million households are without electric power.

There is no new damage discovered at the Fukushima NPP, which was badly struck by the devastating March 11 9-point magnitude on the Richter scale quake and following 10-meter tsunami.

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