Strong Earthquake Hits Northern Japan
September 25, 2003
A strong quake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.8 rocked the northern Japan island of Hokkaido early Friday morning, knocking out power and starting a fire in an industrial area.
The government warned local residets to avoid coastal areas due to the possibility of a tidal wave, or tsunami.
The quake was strong enough to rock buildings on the island and shake books and other objects off shelves. Japan’s public broadcaster NHK reported that at least several people had been injured and a fire had broken out in the city of Tomakomai.
Black plumes of smoke and flames could be seen leaping from the site in an industrial area.
Topics:
Environment, Disaster Accident, Physical oceanography, Flood, Earthquake engineering, Japan, Quake, NHK, Hokkaido, Tsunami