Japan's Fukushima prefecture was hit by a 7.4 magnitude earthquake on Wednesday night, cutting off power to over 2 million residents. Cabinet spokesperson Lo Ping-cheng said on Thursday that Taiwan will provide support and aid for Japan in the aftermath of this disaster.
By the latest count, the earthquake has killed four people and left almost 100 people injured. The foreign ministry says that no Taiwanese students or citizens living in Japan were affected by the quake.
The epicenter of the quake was less than 90 kilometers away from where a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck in 2011. That quake caused a massive tsunami and caused several nuclear meltdowns at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power plant. The nuclear disaster caused Taiwan to ban food imports from affected areas in and around Fukushima.
Taiwan only lifted the ban recently, in February, after much debate about whether food from this region still poses safety hazards.
Lo says the earthquake on Wednesday will not affect Taiwan's new policy towards food imports from Fukushima, and that authorities will continue to monitor the situation.