prefecture Fukushima: Latest News

TOKYO (AP) - A powerful 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Fukushima in northern Japan on Wednesday evening, triggering a tsunami advisory and plunging more than 2 million homes in the Tokyo area into darkness.The region is part of northern Japan that was devastated by a deadly 9.0 quake and tsunami 11 years ago that also caused nuclear plant meltdowns.The Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, which operates the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant where the cooling systems failed after the 2011 disaster, said that workers were checking for any possible damage.The Japan Meteorological Agency said the quake hit at 11:36 p.m. at a depth of 60 kilometers (36 miles) below the sea.The agency issued a tsunami advisory for up to a meter (3-foot) sea surge in parts of Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures.

A massive custom-made face covering, weighing 35kg, has been placed on a giant Buddhist goddess statue in Japan to pray for the end of the coronavirus pandemic.

Tokyo Olympics organizers said Thursday that a policeman tested positive for Covid-19 a day after his assignment last week at the Olympic torch relay.It is the first positive test connected to the relay since it began March 25 from northeastern Fukushima prefecture.Organizers say the 30-year-old policeman was assigned to control traffic on the April 17 leg in southwestern Kagawa prefecture. They said the officer developed symptoms and tested positive the next day.

TOKYO – The Tokyo Olympic torch relay will not run through the streets of Osaka prefecture next week because of rising COVID-19 cases.

TOKYO – The torch relay for the postponed Tokyo Olympics began its 121-day journey across Japan on Thursday and is headed toward the opening ceremony in Tokyo on July 23.

TOKYO – Organizers plan to exercise extreme caution when the Olympic torch relay starts next week, knowing any stumble could imperil the the opening of the Tokyo Games in just over four months.

TOKYO – The Olympic torch relay is yet another hurdle for the postponed Tokyo Games. It kicks off in two weeks from northeastern Japan, and any stumble could sow more doubts about the risk of holding the Olympics in a pandemic.

Dennis NormileOne evening in June 2011, Masaharu Tsubokura went to bed and found he couldn’t close his left eye. His face was paralyzed, and for a few weeks the doctor who had spent months counseling residents displaced by a massive nuclear disaster was himself a patient.The paralysis was temporary.

TOKYO – It's now March, the month when the Tokyo Olympics came apart just a year ago. Will it happen again? Frankly, it seems unlikely.

The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:

TOKYO – The Tokyo Olympic torch relay will start Thursday as planned in northeastern Fukushima prefecture — but with no torch, no torchbearers, no public, and little ceremony.

TOKYO – The Olympic flame has arrived in Japan from Greece. Next comes the torch relay around the country, which is scheduled to start on Thursday from Fukushima prefecture in northern Japan. Organizers have asked crowds to be restrained, but have been imprecise about what that means. Greek officials last week stopped a relay there on the second day and did not resume because of crowd size.

TOKYO – The torch relay was not always a fixture of the modern Olympics, which began in 1896.

TOKYO – Tokyo Olympic organizers are pushing ahead with the Japanese leg of the torch relay despite the threat of the spreading coronavirus.