The Japanese authorities have decided, depending on the region, to partially or completely suspend the operation of 11 local thermal power plants due to the earthquake that occurred on Thursday night in the northeast of the country, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry reported.

Thermal power plants, which will be affected by the suspension, are located in the northeastern prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima, as well as in eastern Ibaraki.

An earthquake of magnitude 7.3 occurred on the night of Wednesday to Thursday in the northeast of Japan. Later, local seismologists raised the magnitude of the earthquake to 7.4. Its epicenter was in the Pacific Ocean east of Fukushima Prefecture, and its focus was at a depth of 60 km. Tremors caused a tsunami threat to the northeast coast of the country.

The coasts of Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures were reached by a wave of about 20 cm high, by now all warnings about the threat of a tsunami have been removed. Japanese seismologists warn of the possibility of strong aftershocks in the coming week.

Japanese media and rescuers from different prefectures of the country reported a total of two deaths and at least 126 injured due to the earthquake. The natural disaster also caused large-scale power outages, interruptions in the work of railway transport. Currently, work is underway to eliminate the consequences of the disaster.