The damage spawned the worst crisis at a nuclear power plant since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, and prompted Japan to shut down most of its nuclear power plants. Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has been working to contain radioactive materials in the years since. TEPCO said there were no new abnormalities caused by Wednesday's quakes, nor any changes to radioactivity levels at the monitoring post there, according to public broadcaster NHK. The company said there were no reported abnormalities at its Tokai Daini nuclear power plant, farther south along the coast of Ibaraki Prefecture. The plant has been shut down since 2011.
The greatest shaking from both earthquakes was reported across central and eastern parts of Fukushima Prefecture, where the shaking was rated at level 4 on the 0-to-7 Japanese seismic intensity scale, known in Japan as "shindo." Weaker shaking was detected from Tokyo all the way north to Sendai in northern Japan. The quakes were not strong enough to generate a tsunami. Japan is one of the most seismically active countries in the world. Earthquakes of this magnitude are relatively common there. A 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck Tochigi Prefecture on Sept. 16, rattling Tokyo and injuring eight people. - Weather
Deep 6.2 quake rattles Argentina: A preliminary magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck northern Argentina early Wednesday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The quake was very deep, at over 100 miles below the surface and struck in a remote mountainous region near the borders with Chile and Bolivia. Deeper quakes usually have less damage and shaking at the surface for their magnitude. There are no reports of damage or injuries at this point. For comparison, the Napa quake from August registered a 6.0, significantly weaker than the quake this morning. -CBS
No changes to radioactive levels? But they just had some earthquakes under a volatile nuclear power plant that, all told, has had some troubles over the past years. Maybe they should double-check.