Four people died after powerful earthquake jolts Japan, images show extent of damage

People in northeast Japan were cleaning up and surveying the damage on Wednesday (March 16) after a powerful 7.4-magnitude quake derailed a bullet train, opened cracks in highways and initially cut power to over two million homes. 

Media reports confirmed that four people were killed. Government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno said 161 people had been injured after the undersea quake off the coast of Fukushima - a region still scarred by a 2011 earthquake and tsunami that led to a nuclear catastrophe - rattled large parts of eastern Japan, including the capital Tokyo. 

A tsunami warning for waves of up to a metre (3.28 feet) in parts of northeast Japan was lifted subsequently after authorities recorded water levels up to 30 centimetres higher than usual in some areas.

The officials said there were no abnormalities at nuclear plants. "We've received reports that there are no data irregularities in the Fukushima Daiichi and Daini nuclear plants and the Onagawa nuclear plant," Matsuno said, referring to the facility crippled in 2011 and two others in the region. 

In Shiroishi city, employees at a supermarket were cleaning up damage including products that toppled from shelves and a partially caved-in ceiling. 

"This is really ironic. Exactly a year ago, we also had a similar-scale earthquake," store employee Yoshinari Kiwaki told AFP.  

"When we felt the tremor last night, we already knew what we would have to work on here in the morning," the 62-year-old added, saying it would take around a month to get the store back in business.

Some damages were reported in the affected areas, including the collapse of a stone wall at the site of Aoba Castle in Sendai and a Shinkansen bullet train derailed north of Fukushima city.

There were no injuries in the derailment, but 75 passengers and three staff on board were trapped for four hours before being able to escape the train.