Officials at Misawa Air Base, Japan, said Friday morning only minimal damage from the earthquake and aftershock have been reported.
“We felt it,” base spokesman Air Force Capt. John Haynes said. “But we have no major damage. There was no structural damage.”
Initial reports suggest damage was limited to items falling from walls and shelves, he said. No injuries were reported.
According to Haynes, tremors are a fact of life in Misawa.
“We prepare for stuff like this,” he said.
“The alarms went off and emergency vehicles responded quickly,” added Navy Capt. R. Wayne Radloff, commanding officer of base Navy operations. “Everything worked.”
Radloff said base officials were monitoring quake information and were prepared for a possible tsunami.
A tsunami watch was issued for Northern Japan and other Western Pacific areas. The watch also included Alaska.
Radloff said the earthquake woke most base residents up, but added some didn’t feel the aftershock because they were participating in a base readiness fun run.
The initial quake, however, “shook us pretty good,” he said.
“It seemed like an eternity. It just continued to shake and shake and shake.”
