Tokyo, Japan is scrambling to keep the lights on in Tokyo today, as freezing temperatures and power plant outages following a strong earthquake last week put the nation’s capital at risk of blackouts, the Japan Times reported.

The situation across the Tokyo area is “extremely tight,” and there could be partial power outages if the supply shortfall continues, according to an official at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, adding that there currently aren’t plans for rolling blackouts.

Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) said up to 3 million households could suffer blackouts if power saving efforts are inadequate.

The country’s power supplies have been stretched thin since last week’s strong earthquake, which struck in the northeast and took several power plants offline. Japan has very limited power reserves, as utilities retire older oil-powered plants and most nuclear reactors remain shut after the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

Source: Oman News Agency