Japan starts to restore power after earthquake causes record blackout

Bloomberg

Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido began to restore power after a strong earthquake overnight knocked out electricity throughout the entire prefecture of more than 5 million people.
The magnitude 6.7 quake that hit on the western part of the island at 3:08 am cut off power to nearly 3 million buildings, and damaged a key thermal plant. One plant was brought back online just before 3 pm local time, restoring power to some areas after almost 12 hours of blackouts. Fully restoring electricity throughout the region could take more than a week, Economy Minister Hiroshige Seko told reporters.
Seven people were confirmed dead, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said. The quake destroyed multiple buildings and caused landslides, and television footage showed roads ripped apart or liquefied by the shaking.
“While gathering information about the damage as quickly as possible, we will work closely with local authorities and do all in our power to rescue those affected, evacuate local people and restore essential services,” PM Shinzo Abe told an emergency meeting of ministers.
Hokkaido makes up nearly a quarter of Japan’s land mass, but it is one of the least populated regions. Its scenery and world-class skiing have made it a top destination for tourists, though its economy accounts for only 3.5 percent of GDP.
Shaking from the quake was the highest possible on the Japanese intensity scale of 7, the JMA said, the same strength as the 2016 Kumamoto quakes that killed more than 250 people, the March 11, 2011 disaster that triggered a tsunami, and the 1995 Kobe quake. The JMA initially rated the quake at the second-highest level.
The Tomato Atsuma coal-fired power plant was automatically shut off after the quake, causing a grid imbalance which triggered the massive outage. The 1.65 gigawatt plant, which was supplying about half the region’s power at the time of the quake, was damaged and restoring it will take at least a week, Seko said.