Strong quake rocks Japan
2005-08-16 06:54
Tokyo - A magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit north-eastern Japan on Tuesday, triggering tsunamis along the country's Pacific coast, collapsing buildings, knocking out power and shaking skyscrapers in Tokyo, more than 300km away.
A caved-in roof at an indoor pool in the coastal city of Sendai injured 14 people, national broadcaster NHK reported. Two more people were injured in the neighbouring prefecture of Iwate, Kyodo News Agency reported.
Footage also showed a collapsed house outside Tokyo and landslides in the quake zone.
17 000 houses lose power
The temblor knocked out power to about 17 000 households and suspended bullet train services in northern Japan and temporarily grounded flights at Tokyo's Haneda airport, Kyodo said.
The quake hit at around 11:46 and was centred 20km below the ocean floor about 80km off the coast of Miyagi prefecture in north-eastern Japan, the Meteorological Agency said. Two small tsunamis hit the nearby coast shortly after noon, and officials expected little damage from the waves.
The quake was followed by at least four aftershocks and additional quakes of up to magnitude 6 could follow, the agency said.
Authorities in Miyagi prefecture were still assessing damage in the area, local government official Masami Oshima said, adding that it was premature to give estimates.
'I couldn't remain standing'
"The horizontal shaking was very strong, so much so that I almost couldn't remain standing," Oshima said.
Sendai, the capital of Miyagi, is about 300km north-east of Tokyo. A nuclear power plant in the neighbouring prefecture of Fukushima was not affected by the earthquake, Kyodo reported citing the plant's operator. Another plant in Onagawa in Miyagi prefecture shut down automatically and was being checked for damage, news reports said.
Japan sits at the juncture of four tectonic plates - or moving slabs of the earth's outer crust - and is one of the world's most quake-prone regions.
A magnitude-6.0 quake shook the Tokyo area on July 23, injuring more than two-dozen people and suspending flights and trains for hours. A magnitude-5 quake can damage homes and other buildings if it is centred in a heavily populated area.
Earlier on Tuesday, a 4.9 magnitude earthquake shook Japan's northern island of Hokkaido. There was no danger of a tsunami in that one.
Step-by-step guide to Tsunamis
- AP