Moderate tremors continued to jolt Japan early on Saturday in a wake of a powerful earthquake that devastated the northeastern part of the country a week ago, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said.
The aftershocks with magnitudes from 4.8 to 5.2 were registered off the east coast of Honshu, strengthening fears that abnormal seismic activity in the region may still bring further damage to the country.
A massive 9.0-magnitude earthquake and powerful tsunami hit northeastern Japan on March 11 leaving at least 17,000 people dead or missing. Japan's meteorological services have registered a record 262 minor and moderate tremors off the coast since then.
In addition, Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant was hit by a number of explosions, which led to overheating of nuclear cores in four reactors and radiation leaks.
Workers at the plant are still desperately trying to cool the cores in the reactors in an effort to prevent a nuclear meltdown.
Japan on Friday raised the alert level at the plant to five from four on a seven point scale.
MOSCOW, March 19 (RIA Novosti)
