People walk along a road damaged by an earthquake in Wajima, Ishikawa prefecture, Japan, on January 1. Kyodo/Reuters
The powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake that hit western Japan on Monday has disrupted communications, forced road closures and flattened buildings, according to officials.
At least five highways have been closed, said Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hayashi Yoshimasa, according to Japanese public broadcaster NHK.
Six people are reportedly trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings in Ishikawa prefecture, Yoshimasa added, according to NHK.
Yoshimasa said that as many as 33,000 households may be affected by power outages.
The power converter at the Shika nuclear power plant in Ishikawa prefecture has been affected but with “no major results,” Yoshimasa told reporters. There has been no other abnormality other than that, he emphasized.
Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority reported no problems were found with the reactors at the power plant, NHK reports.
Some background: A devastating 9.1 magnitude quake struck near the east coast of Japan in 2011, triggering a tsunami with 30-foot waves that damaged several nuclear reactors in the area.
The tsunami sent water flooding into the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, causing the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986. At the time of the earthquake, Japan had 54 nuclear reactors, with two under construction, and 17 power plants, which produced about 30% of the country’s electricity.
Since then, the public has been skeptical about nuclear power and Japan has made strict safety updates at plants throughout the country.
In recent years the country has also imported greater amounts of natural gas and coal to meet its energy needs.
CNN’s Rhea Mogul, Junko Ogura and Tetsu Sukegawa contributed reporting.
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