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Pokémon Go's Lapras Event Cut Short in Fukushima After Quake

Niantic Labs announced on the official Japanese Pokémon Go Twitter account on Tuesday at 6:27 a.m. that its current Lapras event has been cancelled until further notice due to the tsunami warning issued in Fukushima Prefecture and the Tohoku coastline. Niantic then announced at 2:56 p.m. that the event has been prematurely ended, one day early, due to the current situation in the area. However, Niantic plans to continue its efforts to support the area's reconstruction.

A magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck off the coast of Fukushima on Tuesday morning at around 5:59 a.m. The government issued tsunami warnings on the entire Tohoku (northeast) coast of Japan after initial estimates of possible three-meter high waves.

The government later lifted its tsunami advisories at around 2:00 p.m. Few injuries and no fatalities have been reported so far.

The Pokémon Go game's Lapras event began on November 11, and was planned to go on until Wednesday, November 23. The event offers increased numbers of Lapras in parts of the coastal regions of Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima prefectures. One of the event's stated goals is to boost the economy of the areas hit hardest by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.

Yoshihiro Murai, governor of Miyagi, addressed the 2011 disaster during the opening of the event in November 12.

[Via Yaraon!]