Earthquake relief efforts continue in the Hokuriku region, with teams working through the snow to deliver supplies to isolated villages.
Sun 7 Jan 2024 15:37, UK
A powerful earthquake has caused an oil spill at a nuclear power plant in Japan.
On New Year's Day, a 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck Hokuriku, killing more than 120 people.
The Shiga power station is 65 km (40 mi) from the epicenter and has already reported temporary power outages, oil spills in transformers and water leaks from nuclear fuel pools.
Today, Hokuriku Electric said it found an oil slick approximately five meters by 10 meters floating on the surface of the sea in front of the power station. The spill was treated with a neutralizing agent.
Sewerage and no. 2 A small oil slick was found on the road around the reactor, the utility added.
External radiation levels were not affected and there were no adverse impacts on human health or the environment, the agency said.
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The utility believes the slick was caused by a leak of transformer insulating oil during the earthquake. This triggered the fire extinguishing system, which dispersed the oil and sprayed water around the transformer.
The oil appears to have entered the drain through rain, the company added. Hokuriku Electric is still investigating the situation.
The plant's main external power, monitoring facilities and cooling systems are functioning normally.
A Japanese village is destroyed by an earthquake
Meanwhile, rescue teams work through the snow to deliver supplies to isolated villages hit by the quake.
As of Sunday morning, 195 people were still unaccounted for and 560 were injured.
Among those rescued was a woman in her nineties Taken from a collapsed house more than five days after the earthquake.