2018 Hokkaido Eastern Iburi earthquake

Aftershocks of 2018 Hokkaido Eastern Iburi earthquake

On 21 February 2019, a magnitude 5.7 M_JMA  aftershock struck 10 km north of the epicenter of the main earthquake.[11] This has been the strongest recorded aftershock of the earthquake. No major damage was reported, but there were small disruptions to rail systems such as the Hokkaido Shinkansen and the Sapporo Municipal Subway.[12] In total four people, from Sapporo, Tomakomai and Noboribetsu, were injured and an avalanche was triggered in the town of Atsuma.[13]

The earthquake cut power to all 2.95 million households in Hokkaido. This was because the Hokkaido Electric Power Company's coal-fired power plant in Atsuma was heavily damaged by fires that broke out during the earthquake. The damage to the plant caused an imbalance in the supply and demand of electricity throughout Hokkaido; this resulted in the blackout.[21] By 6:30 p.m. JST on the day of the earthquake, power was restored to 340,000 households in Hokkaido. Hospitals were forced to function on emergency backup power, due to the blackout. Many hospitals had to turn away emergency patients because of the outages.[22]

A variable-message sign tells drivers that a section of the Hidaka Expressway is closed

All flights to New Chitose Airport were cancelled on the day of the quake. NHK World-Japan announced the airport resumed business at 11:00 a.m. JST the day after the quake. All public transport, including rail, subway, and bus services was shut down in Hokkaido due to the loss of electricity and damages.[23][24]

The earthquake caused many roads in Hokkaido to become impassable. Some roads were blocked by debris from landslides, others were destroyed by soil liquefaction as far away from the epicenter as Kiyota-ku, Sapporo.[21] Near the earthquake's epicenter in Atsuma, emergency services could not take emergency calls after the quake due to the heavy damage.[25]

The East Nippon Expressway Company reported these expressways in Hokkaido were subject to closures after the quake:[26]

• Dō-Ō Expressway
• Dōtō Expressway
• Sasson Expressway
• Hidaka Expressway

The blackout had a severe impact on the farming and fishing industries in Hokkaido. The prefecture provides half of Japan's raw milk, but without power for refrigeration or operating the milking equipment, the cows could not be milked and the product was wasted. Other produce, such as onions and potatoes, could not be kept cool or shipped away due to the closure of the rail network. As a result, an estimated 13.6 billion yen worth of perishable goods was discarded.[14][27]

The tourism industry in Hokkaido was hit hard by the immediate effects of the earthquake including delays and cancellations caused by the quakes' impact to transportation infrastructure; moreover, perceptions of the area as being dangerous due to aftershocks and general fear of earthquakes caused a decrease in tourism to the area. The total impact of the earthquake was estimated to cost the tourism industry approximately 35.6 billion yen as of October 2018.[14]

Former Prime Minister Shinzō Abe holding a meeting in response to the earthquake.

Prime Minister Shinzō Abe announced that 25,000 members of the Japan Self-Defense Forces would be deployed to Hokkaido to assist in disaster relief efforts. Also, he announced that he would temporarily suspend his campaign to be re-elected as President of the Liberal Democratic Party. His competitor, Shigeru Ishiba, also postponed some campaign activities.[31] Abe visited Sapporo and Atsuma three days after the earthquake. He met with local political leaders and residents who were living at temporary shelters. After his visit, the prime minister announced that the government would allocate 540 million yen from reserves to aid in Hokkaido's recovery.[32]

The Japan national football team cancelled a friendly match scheduled for 7 September against Chile in the Sapporo Dome. The team sent their condolences to the victims of the earthquake.[33]

Rescue teams from Aomori Prefecture and Tokyo traveled to Hokkaido by the Seikan ferry to assist in the relief efforts.[34][35]

Nintendo announced that it would postpone its Nintendo Direct series release in light of the disaster. The Direct was postponed for a week.[36]

Facebook activated its safety check in response to the earthquake.[37] Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko visited Atsuma on 15 November to get in touch with the victims of the earthquake and landslides. Akihito also surveyed the area impacted by the landslides.[38]

Landslides (brown) can be seen throughout an aerial photograph of northern Atsuma taken after the earthquake.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in, in response to typhoons and the earthquake, sent a Twitter message to Shinzō Abe on the sixth of September stating: "I express my condolences to the victims of the Kansai typhoon and the Hokkaido earthquake, and I wish comfort to those who have lost their families or were injured." He also voiced that Japan seems like they coped well with the various disasters that plagued the country in 2018.[39]