6.1 Magnitude Quake Strikes Japan; Fukushima Unharmed

Two earthquakes hit northern Japan Thursday, but neither caused any major damages.

According to The Associated Press, Japan's Meteorological Agency said a magnitude 6.1 undersea quake struck Thursday evening, 19 miles below the sea surface, about 465 miles northeast of Tokyo, near Hokkaido island. No warnings were issued.

The Japanese television network NHK said the second temblor left several thousand homes without power.

The quakes are unrelated, USA Today reported, and the Fukushima nuclear power plant, crippled earlier this year, was unaffected.

The earthquake in Japan on March 11 was magnitude 9.0 and sparked a tsunami. The disasters left nearly 20,000 people dead or missing and caused a nuclear crisis at the plant. Information about the status of the plant’s restoration are posted on the website, www.tepco.co.jp.

Japan lies on the "Ring of Fire" – an arc of earthquake and volcanic zones that stretches around the Pacific Rim; about 90 percent of the world's earthquakes occur in the area.

Radiation Leakage Continues, Fukushima Church Pastor Covets Fervent Prayers

Two workers at Japan’s stricken nuclear facility were hospitalized Thursday after being exposed to high levels of radiation, officials at the nation’s nuclear safety agency said. A third worker was also exposed but did not require hospitalization. Japanese pastor in Fukushima called for fervent prays that church can survive the crisis and the work of mission would not be stopped, that they would rise again, radiation leak would be stopped.
Nuclear Disaster Uproots Fukushima Baptist Church

As radioactive water leaks from a quake-damaged power plant off the coast of Japan, a local congregation attempts to make sense of the disaster.