(Update) Powerful Quake Rocks Central Japan, Killing One
Kanazawa, Ishikawa Pref., March 25 (Jiji Press)–A powerful earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 6.9 on the Richter scale rocked the Hokuriku region of central Japan Sunday morning, killing at least one woman and injuring more than 100 people.
The quake, which occurred at around 9:42 a.m. (12:42 a.m. GMT), measured 6 higher on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, and two other municipalities on Noto Peninsula, which faces the Sea of Japan, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
The agency traced the quake’s focus to an estimated 11 kilometers underground off the peninsula.
In Wajima, a 52-year-old woman died after being crushed by a collapsing stone lantern, local police said.
According to the agency, tsunami waves of 20 centimeters reached the coast of Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, and other areas past 11 a.m.
The temblor temporarily cut off electricity supply to several hundred households in the prefecture, according to Hokuriku Electric Power Co. . It also caused road cracks and cave-ins, while there are reports of house collapse and landslide.
Intermittent aftershocks continued to jolt Wajima and some other locations.
A Ground Self-Defense Force unit was mobilized for disaster- relief operations at the request of Ishikawa Governor Masanori Tanimoto.
In Tokyo, the central government set up a task force at the crisis management center of the prime minister’s office. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said at a hastily called news conference that the government has dispatched an investigation team headed by Kensei Mizote, minister for disaster management, to affected areas in order to collect information.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe instructed his aides to check the extent of damages caused by the quake and make every effort to ensure the safety of residents.
The earthquake measured 6 lower in the town of Shika, Ishikawa Prefecture. Two reactors at Hokuriku Electric Power’s nuclear power plant there were not affected because they have been shut down for inspections.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. said its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture is operating normally. The quake measured 5 lower in the village of Kariwa.
The quake also measured 4 or higher on the Japanese scale in the nearby prefectures of Toyama, Nagano, Fukui and Gifu.
East Japan Railway Co. briefly suspended its Joetsu Shinkansen bullet train operations between Echigoyuzawa Station and Niigata Station.
The Noto airport in Wajima was closed because of cracks in its 2,000-meter runway.
According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the earthquake is the first on record with a magnitude of 6 or higher in Ishikawa Prefecture.END
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