One dead, 162 injured as strong quake shakes Japan
Monday, March 26, 2007
A STRONG earthquake killed one person and injured more than 170 in central Japan yesterday, demolishing houses, buckling roads, triggering landslides and cutting off water supplies to thousands of homes.
More than 1,000 people evacuated to shelters after at least 25 houses collapsed and 200 others, mostly wooden with heavy tile roofs, were seriously damaged by the 6.9 magnitude earthquake, which struck at 9.42am (0042 GMT), media and officials said.
The focus of the quake — which was also felt in Tokyo — was at a depth of 11km below the seabed off the Noto peninsula in Ishikawa prefecture, about 300km west of Tokyo. The peninsula is a mountainous district known for its hot spring resorts. More than 100 aftershocks jolted the area, including one with a magnitude of 5.3 more than eight hours after the first quake, and officials warned more could be in store.
A 52-year-old woman died in Wajima, a resort and fishing town on the western side of the peninsula, after being trapped under a stone lantern that toppled in her garden.
In Nanao, a resort and fishing city with a population of around 60,000, ambulance services were flooded with calls to help people who had suffered burns and injuries, Kyodo said.
"I looked outside and electricity poles were shaking," said Hiroshi Tanaka, an official at the fire department in Nanao.
"Residents called in but they were calm and there weren't many serious injuries," Tanaka said.
"One cook at an inn was deep-frying food and suffered burns."
About 40 people were being treated for injuries, mostly minor, in hospital in Wajima, a town of around 34,000 people, media said. Most people were hurt from falling down when the tremor stuck or by being hit by falling objects, Kyodo said.
Anxious residents gathered outside their homes in Wajima, some holding children in their arms.
Around 1,200 Wajima residents whose homes were damaged were evacuated to schools and community centres and were receiving food and blankets, a city official said.
TV footage showed collapsed wooden houses, tiles from roofs scattered on narrow streets and a man digging through piles of boards from a fallen house. About 30 troops arrived in the area to help assess the damage.Reuters
More than 1,000 people evacuated to shelters after at least 25 houses collapsed and 200 others, mostly wooden with heavy tile roofs, were seriously damaged by the 6.9 magnitude earthquake, which struck at 9.42am (0042 GMT), media and officials said.
The focus of the quake — which was also felt in Tokyo — was at a depth of 11km below the seabed off the Noto peninsula in Ishikawa prefecture, about 300km west of Tokyo. The peninsula is a mountainous district known for its hot spring resorts. More than 100 aftershocks jolted the area, including one with a magnitude of 5.3 more than eight hours after the first quake, and officials warned more could be in store.
A 52-year-old woman died in Wajima, a resort and fishing town on the western side of the peninsula, after being trapped under a stone lantern that toppled in her garden.
In Nanao, a resort and fishing city with a population of around 60,000, ambulance services were flooded with calls to help people who had suffered burns and injuries, Kyodo said.
"I looked outside and electricity poles were shaking," said Hiroshi Tanaka, an official at the fire department in Nanao.
"Residents called in but they were calm and there weren't many serious injuries," Tanaka said.
"One cook at an inn was deep-frying food and suffered burns."
About 40 people were being treated for injuries, mostly minor, in hospital in Wajima, a town of around 34,000 people, media said. Most people were hurt from falling down when the tremor stuck or by being hit by falling objects, Kyodo said.
Anxious residents gathered outside their homes in Wajima, some holding children in their arms.
Around 1,200 Wajima residents whose homes were damaged were evacuated to schools and community centres and were receiving food and blankets, a city official said.
TV footage showed collapsed wooden houses, tiles from roofs scattered on narrow streets and a man digging through piles of boards from a fallen house. About 30 troops arrived in the area to help assess the damage.Reuters
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