Tokyo 2020 Olympic venues are to be assessed for damage in the coming hours following an earthquake off the eastern coast of Japan.
A 7.3-magnitude earthquake that hit on Saturday night shook buildings, caused more than 100 injuries and led to nearly one million homes losing power. Capital city Tokyo was among the areas to be impacted.
Japanese news agency Kyodo News said the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee has reported that three venues north and east of the capital city have already been assessed and found to be undamaged. The Azuma Baseball Stadium in the city of Fukushima, which is scheduled to hold baseball and softball, and the Miyagi Stadium and Kashima Stadium football arenas were each cleared.
Kyodo News reports that Tokyo 2020 officials are set to complete thorough surveys of Games sites as early as Monday to more closely assess whether any damage has been caused.
Saturday’s quake hit at 23:08 local time (14:08 GMT) at a depth of 60km in the Pacific, off Japan’s eastern coast, Japan’s meteorological agency (JMA) said. Aftershocks have continued to hit the region since.
The JMA said Saturday’s earthquake was likely an aftershock of the massive 2011 quake and tsunami which killed over 18,000 people.
The earthquake came just days after Tokyo 2020 chief executive Yoshiro Mori resigned over comments deemed “inappropriate” about women in business.
In December, organisers revealed that the total cost of the Games now stands at $15.4bn, including the OCOG budget of $6.7bn. The cost comprises the $12.6bn forecasted in the version four budget, plus the OCOG’s contingency fund of $300m and the additional costs due to COVID-19 of $2.5bn, including $600m of additional Paralympic Games costs.
The Olympics Games are due to take place from July 23 to August 8, followed by the Paralympic Games from August 24 to September 5.
