TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Food imports from Fukushima will not be affected, in principle, by the earthquake that struck the Japanese prefecture Wednesday night (March 16), Cabinet Spokesperson Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) said on Thursday (March 17).

A 7.4-magnitude earthquake occurred off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture on Wednesday night. As of Thursday morning, four people are known to have died as a result, and 97 are injured, according to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Luo said in a press conference Thursday that he was saddened by the earthquake and that Taiwan will provide assistance to Japan if needed. He added that according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, no Taiwanese students in Japan were affected.

Taiwan will continue to pay attention to the damage and impact caused by the earthquake, Luo added.

The Taiwanese government officially ended its ban on the import of food from areas of Japan affected by the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster on Feb. 8. Food products from Fukushima, Gunma, Chiba, Ibaraki, and Tochigi that pass Taiwan’s food safety regulations are now allowed to be imported.