The operator of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant (northeast Japan) announced on Friday that it had suspended “as a precaution” its process of discharging treated water from the plant into the sea, after a 5.8 magnitude earthquake that struck nearby, notes AFP.

On February 28, Tepco began a new operation to dump water stored at the plant site into the Pacific Ocean, previously treated to remove most of its radioactive substances, except for tritium, which is dangerous only in high concentrated doses, according to Agerpres.

This fourth phase of dumping into the sea since last summer was to end on Sunday, according to the original schedule.

After Friday’s earthquake at 00:14 local time (Thursday 15:14 GMT) off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture, which did not cause a tsunami, “we were able to confirm remotely that there are no anomalies” at the water dilution facilities with tritium and discharge into the ocean, Tepco indicated on the X social network.

But, “as a precautionary measure, we have suspended the operations of these facilities, in accordance with predefined operational protocols,” Tepco added.

Shortly after the earthquake, Japan’s Nuclear Safety Authority (NRA) indicated on its website that no anomalies had been detected at the Fukushima nuclear facilities.

Located on the shores of the Pacific Ocean, the Fukushima Daiichi plant was devastated in 2011 by a gigantic tsunami caused by a 9.0-magnitude underwater earthquake off the coast of Fukushima.

This plant is currently being dismantled, a colossal and extremely complex project that would take several decades.

China has strongly criticized the discharge of treated water from the plant into the sea, although this process has been validated by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Beijing retaliated by suspending all Japanese seafood imports starting last summer, followed by Moscow a few months later.