On Thursday, a powerful earthquake struck Japan’s northeast coast, leaving thousands without power and water. It also forced many factories to close down, increasing supply chain problems for manufacturers of electronics, smartphones and cars around the world.

Just before midnight, Wednesday’s magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck east of Fukushima Prefecture. This is the exact area where Japan’s largest earthquake occurred 11 years ago.

Hirokazu Matsuno reports that at least two people have died and 161 others were hurt in this latest earthquake. This contrasts with the thousands who perished in the 2011 tsunami, which triggered a tsunami, and resulted in a reactor meltdown.

No abnormalities were reported at nuclear power plants at this point, but authorities claimed that there was a fire alarm at the turbine building of the plant which had been crippled in 2011.

However, the quake caused significant damage to industry.

Chipmaker Renesas ElectronicsA major supplier of automotive chip chips stopped production at two semiconductor plants, and partly stopped production at one third.

Its Naka factory in Ibaraki prefecture, just north of Tokyo supplies semiconductors to automobile companies around the world. Many auto companies have had to reduce production due to chip shortages.

Manufacturer of electronic components Murata ManufacturingAlso, operations were halted at the factories because one that makes smartphone parts was in flames after the earthquake.

Sony GroupTwo factories located in Miyagi Prefecture were closed and another in Yamagata Prefecture was shut down. These facilities are used to produce storage media and laser diodes as well as image sensors.

Toyota MotorIt said on Thursday that it will resume operations at reduced capacities at two factories after they were temporarily suspended following the quake.

Japan’s largest refiner Eneos Corp has closed its Sendai refinery, which includes the crude distillation unit (CDU) that produces 145,000 barrels per day.

Officials have suspended the Shinkansen bullet train services and shut down at least one highway leading to the area for safety inspections.

Remember bad memories

Fukushima had parts of buildings’ facades thrown into the streets. Television footage captured a roof made of steep tiles being crushed by a car. Workers were also seen inspecting cracked roads.

This one was different from the 2011 earthquake, it felt huge. Aoi Hoshino who runs a Fukushima bar said, “I had to hold on to something in order to remain upright.”

Her customer shrugged off her initial shaking but, when the largest one struck, he stood up screaming, “This really is a huge one!” She recalled that the bar suffered only minor damage, including broken glasses and damaged frames.

Nearly three hours after the earthquake, Tokyo’s capital lost power about 300km (186 miles) to the south.

A tsunami warning was raised for the northeast coast earlier. Power was restored fully to the capital early Thursday morning, though some Fukushima residents were still without electricity as of early evening.

Matsuno claimed that water was being delivered to affected communities by the Self-Defense Forces. Fukushima residents waited in line to fill their plastic tanks.

Fumio Kishida, Prime Minister of Japan, stated that government will be alerted for any further strong earthquakes in the coming days.

According to Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), the earthquake struck just before 11:36 PM local time (1400 GMT) at 60km depth.

A week ago was the anniversary of the earthquake that struck magnitude 9.1 in Japan. It also caused the tsunami which left approximately 18,000 victims.

But, this latest earthquake has rekindled concerns about nuclear safety and could be a problem for Kishida’s plan to restart abandoned nuclear power plants.