2018年CRI 9 confirmed dead, hundreds injured after strong earthquake rocks Japan's Hokkaido

 

Nine people were confirmed dead and 300 people were injured after a strong earthquake rocking Japan's northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido early Thursday, local police and rescue officials said.

Around 30 people still remained missing in the wake of the temblor, with almost 2,000 people taking refuge in emergency evacuation shelters that have been set up at more than 400 locations, local authorities said.

The powerful temblor with a preliminary magnitude of 6.7, which measured the maximum 7 on Japan's seismic¹ intensity² scale, rocked Japan's northernmost prefecture at 3:08 a.m. local time on Thursday and the death toll³ is likely to rise, officials said, as multiple houses were buried by landslides⁴.

Complicating⁵ rescue efforts, Hokkaido Electric Power Company said that power was out across the whole of Japan's northernmost prefecture and 2.95 million homes were without electricity.

The utility said it might take up to a week to fully⁶ restore power in its service area.

In addition, hundreds of thousands of households were reported as having no water supply, local utilities also said.

All flights have been cancelled at Hokkaido's New Chitose Airport and trains, including Shinkansen bullet train services, bus and highway services have been suspended, local operators said.

At the airport, part of the ceiling collapsed⁷ in a terminal building due to the quake and a water leak and the power outage also forced the airport's closure, the Transport Ministry⁸ said.

The closure has resulted in more than 200 flights being canceled, which has affected⁹ around 40,000 passengers. Due to the power outage, the airport's operator said it was not sure when the airport could be reopened.

Local police said they had received hundreds of reports of injuries as a result of the quake, and in the towns of Atsuma and Abira, 20 houses were leveled after landslides engulfed¹⁰ wide regions of the area.

Whole mountain ranges in the hardest-hit regions had their landscapes altered owing to massive landslides, local media reported.

More than 1,300 public schools in the prefecture were forced to close and students told to stay at home amid continuous aftershocks, according to local reports, citing the education ministry and the Sapporo government.

A potentially lethal¹¹ fire broke out at a petrochemical complex in Muroran, local media reported, but was later extinguished by firefighters. 

The Japanese government has set up a liaison¹² unit at the crisis management center of the offices of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to gather more information on the devastating¹³ quake.

Around 25,000 personnel from the Japanese Self-Defense Forces have been dispatched to the quake-stricken areas to assist with rescue and relief operations at the request of the governor of Hokkaido. 

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), the major temblor occurred in southern Hokkaido at 3:08 a.m. local time on Thursday morning (1808 GMT Wednesday), with the epicenter located at a latitude¹⁴ of 42.7 degrees north and a longitude¹⁵ of 142.0 degrees east and at depth of 40 km.

The earthquake measured the maximum 7 on Japan's seismic intensity scale, marking the first time a quake in Hokkaido has reached this intensity level since the seismic scale was revised in 1996, the JMA noted¹⁶.

Dozens of aftershocks followed, including one with a preliminary magnitude of 5.4 that hit the prefecture at 6:11 a.m. local time (2111 GMT Wednesday), the weather agency said.

The JMA has warned that earthquakes with a similar intensity could continue in the area for about a week.

Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority said that the Tomari nuclear power plant operated by Hokkaido Electric Power Co. had lost an external power source, and a spent fuel pool was being cooled by an emergency power supply system. Power supply has since been restored at the plant, according to the plant's operator.

The nuclear watchdog said no abnormalities have been observed in radiation levels around the plant and Tohoku Electric Power Co. has said that the Higashidori nuclear power plant in Aomori Prefecture south of Hokkaido has exhibited no problems.

The JMA said there might be a slight sea-level change in Japan's coastal¹⁷ areas as a result of the early morning temblor, but no official tsunami¹⁸ warning has been issued. 

1 seismic   

a.地震的，地震强度的

参考例句：

• Earthquakes produce two types of seismic waves.地震产生两种地震波。
• The latest seismic activity was also felt in northern Kenya.肯尼亚北部也感觉到了最近的地震活动。

2 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

3 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

4 landslides   

山崩( landslide的名词复数 )； （山坡、悬崖等的）崩塌； 滑坡； （竞选中）一方选票占压倒性多数

参考例句：

• Landslides have cut off many villages in remote areas. 滑坡使边远地区的许多村庄与外界隔绝。
• The storm caused landslides and flooding in Savona. 风暴致使萨沃纳发生塌方和洪灾。

5 complicating   

使复杂化( complicate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• High spiking fever with chills is suggestive of a complicating pylephlebitis. 伴有寒战的高热，暗示合并门静脉炎。
• In America these actions become executive puberty rites, complicating relationships that are already complicated enough. 在美国，这些行动成了行政青春期的惯例，使本来已经够复杂的关系变得更复杂了。

6 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

7 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

8 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

9 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

10 engulfed   

v.吞没，包住( engulf的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was engulfed by a crowd of reporters. 他被一群记者团团围住。
• The little boat was engulfed by the waves. 小船被波浪吞没了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

12 liaison   

n.联系，（未婚男女间的）暖昧关系，私通

参考例句：

• She acts as a liaison between patients and staff.她在病人与医护人员间充当沟通的桥梁。
• She is responsible for liaison with researchers at other universities.她负责与其他大学的研究人员联系。

13 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

14 latitude   

n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区

参考例句：

• The latitude of the island is 20 degrees south.该岛的纬度是南纬20度。
• The two cities are at approximately the same latitude.这两个城市差不多位于同一纬度上。

15 longitude   

n.经线，经度

参考例句：

• The city is at longitude 21°east.这个城市位于东经21度。
• He noted the latitude and longitude,then made a mark on the admiralty chart.他记下纬度和经度，然后在航海图上做了个标记。

16 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

17 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

18 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。