Two Dead, Over 300 Injured in Japan Quake

Text of report in English by Japanese news agency Kyodo; time in sourceline as received

Tokyo, July 16 Kyodo – An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 rocked a wide area of Niigata Prefecture and its vicinity Monday morning, killing two women and injuring more than 300 people, causing minor tsunamis and leading to an emergency halt of nuclear reactors, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency and a Kyodo News tally.

The 10:13 a.m. quake also disrupted public transportation, caused power failures in more than 21,000 homes, flattened houses, rippled roads and ruptured gas pipes as aftershocks continued in the area.

The two women in their 80s died in the city of Kashiwazaki in Niigata, a city about 200 kilometres northwest of Tokyo, after being taken to a local hospital.

Among the more than 300 people injured in Niigata and Nagano prefectures, over 100 were taken to a hospital in Kashiwazaki while others were brought to other local hospitals. Some are in critical condition, the local police and other sources said.

In Kashiwazaki and its vicinity, more than 20 houses collapsed, according to the Niigata prefectural government. Three were buried under a collapsed apartment building, but were later rescued.

An electric transformer caught fire at the No 3 reactor of Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant, but the fire was extinguished, the utility company said. The nuclear radiation measuring instrument has not detected any irregularities so far.

The agency issued a tsunami warning for coastal areas of Sado Island in the Sea of Japan and other neighbouring coastal areas shortly after the quake but lifted it about one hour later. The quake caused minor tidal waves of 20 centimeters at most in Kashiwazaki.

The quake measured upper 6 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 in Kashiwazaki and Kariwa in Niigata and Iizuna in Nagano, lower 6 in Joetsu and Ojiya in Niigata, and upper 5 in Iiyama in Nagano.

Aftershocks with an intensity of up to 3 continued to rattle the region.

The focus of the quake was about 17 kilometres below the seabed in waters off Niigata Prefecture, the agency said.

An aftershock with an intensity of upper 5 or lower 6 at the most may occur within the week, agency official Koichi Uhira told a press conference.

Following the quake, the government set up an emergency task force at the premier’s office in Tokyo to deal with the situation, while Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was stumping in Nagasaki City for the July 29 House of Councillors election, returned to Tokyo immediately.

A government research group, including Kensei Mizote, state minister for disaster management, left Tokyo shortly after 1 p.m. to the quake-hit area on board a Ground Self-Defence Force helicopter.

A woman operating a Japanese-style inn in Kashiwazaki said, “The quake was so fierce, I felt I couldn’t stand up.” She said that her home was in a mess, with broken plates and an overturned television.

East Japan Railway Co. said it halted train services on the Tohoku, Joetsu and Nagano Shinkansen lines as well as other train services. It said the Tohoku and Nagano Shinkansen lines later resumed operations.

At the Kashiwazaki station yard, the first car of a two-car train derailed, but caused no injuries among passengers and crew.

Some sections of expressways were closed for checkups. Landslides have also hit many parts of roads in Niigata Prefecture.

Niigata airport temporarily shut down its runways immediately after the quake to check for damage, airport officials said.

Tokyo Electric Power said the No 3 reactor and three other reactors at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant were shut down following the quake.

As of 11 a.m., the quake had also caused power failures that hit about 21,700 homes in an area centring on the middle of the Niigata region, Tohoku Electric Power Co. said.

As gas pipes have ruptured in many areas in Kashiwazaki, the city government suspended supplying gas in the urban area from around 11 a.m.

Niigata Prefecture was hit by a magnitude 6.8 quake on Oct. 23, 2004, by which 67 people were killed and more than 4,800 injured.

The agency initially put the quake’s magnitude at 6.6 but later revised it to 6.8. The quake also shook the Kanto region centring on Tokyo.

(c) 2007 BBC Monitoring Newsfile. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.