Toyota, Nissan Halt Operations at Japanese Plants After Earthquake

Workers assembling fourth generation Toyota Prius cars on the production line at the company's Tsutsumi assembly plant in Toyota City, Aichi prefecture, on Dec. 8, 2017. Toshifumi Kitamura/AFP via Getty Images

Automakers Toyota and Nissan have paused operations at plants in northern Japan after a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck the northeast coast off Fukushima late on March 16.

The companies confirmed the suspension in separate statements to Bloomberg.

Work at Toyota’s factories in Iwate and Miyagi prefectures—which make Toyota’s popular Yaris compact car, among other vehicles—was suspended on Wednesday following the earthquake and remained so on Thursday.

The company is currently deciding whether to resume production later in the day, spokeswoman Shiori Hashimoto said.

Meanwhile, work at Nissan’s factory in the city of Iwaki in Fukushima was also halted on Wednesday and remains so, although the plant was previously scheduled to close Thursday and Friday as part of Nissan’s employee vaccination schedule, spokeswoman Azusa Momose said.

The Epoch Times has contacted spokespersons for Toyota and Nissan for comment.

At least four people were killed and hundreds more injured after the earthquake struck at around 11:30 p.m. local time off the coast of Fukushima prefecture.

It had a preliminary epicenter depth of 60 kilometers (37 miles), Japan’s Meteorological Agency said, and came after a 6.1-magnitude shake in the same area minutes earlier.

According to local reports it was felt in Miyagi and Fukushima as well as Kanagawa, Ibaraki, Iwate, Akita, Tochigi, and Yamagata prefectures.

Government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno confirmed the four deaths to local news outlets and said that 107 people were injured, although officials are currently investigating whether the deaths occurred as a direct result of the earthquake.

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said that more than 2 million homes had been left without power and warned that potential strong tremors might occur over the next two to three days.

The earthquake saw buildings violently shake, and caused a high-speed bullet train carrying around 100 passengers between Fukushima Station and Shiroishizao Station to derail.

It also prompted a tsunami warning from Japan’s Meteorological Agency, although that warning was lifted on Thursday morning.

Toyota said that there had been some damage to its plants but no reports of any employee injuries, according to Bloomberg.

Nissan spokeswoman Momose told Bloomberg that all of its employees had been safely evacuated and no injuries reported at its Iwaki facility. There had also not been any damage impacting company production.

However, some equipment was damaged at Denso Corp.’s Fukushima plant, a spokesperson confirmed. Denso Corp. supplies Toyota and is now assessing how production might be impacted, the spokesperson said.

Toyota also temporarily paused operations at its engine factory in Miyagi, but they are set to resume later Thursday following safety checks.

Wednesday’s earthquake occurred just days after the 11th anniversary of the 2011 deadly 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami which claimed the lives of 22,000 people and sparked the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant meltdown.