Japan quake: 'It's not so bad'

2004-10-25 09:03

Nagaoka, Japan - Several powerful aftershocks rocked northwestern Japan early on Monday, as tens of thousands of people huddled in evacuation centres following a devastating earthquake over the weekend that left 25 dead and injured thousands more.

An aftershock with a preliminary magnitude of 5.6 hit just after dawn, swaying buildings and deepening fears that the area's already shaky infrastructure would suffer more damage. Smaller aftershocks were felt through the night.

Nearly 98 000 people were seeking refuge at gymnasiums and public buildings in the quake zone in rural Niigata state, about 250 kilometres northwest of Tokyo.

Thousands were left homeless by Saturday's magnitude 6.8 quake, and much of the region remained without water, electricity or gas on Monday morning.

Saturday's quake was the worst to hit Japan since 1995, when more than 6 000 people were killed by a 7.2 magnitude quake in and around Kobe city.

In Nigorizawa, a village famous for raising carp, some residents were hiking down the mountain road with their belongings to seek shelter. The area, next to Nagaoka, was one of the worst-hit spots.

Bulldozers worked to clear the road in front of Suzuko Kikue's home, which narrowly missed being buried under a landslide.

"When the hillside gave in, our whole house shook. It was terrifying," said Kikue, 83, as she cleaned up her kitchen.

But Kikue said she would ignore instructions to evacuate.

"I'd rather stay," she said. "This my home. It's not so bad."

Kikue's neighbor, Hiroaki Kamakawa, was hammering up shutters and clearing away broken wall tiles.

"It's still standing, but it's tilted," he said of the house where he lives with his grandmother, wife and three children.

"Inside it's trashed, but I wanted to fix the cracks because they say it might rain soon."

- AP