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Quake sparks nuclear plant fire
16/07/2007 13:48 - (SA)
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| An electrical transformer near one of Kashiwazaki nuclear plant's four reactors is burnt black after a fire broke out, following a strong earthquake in Japan. (Kyodo News, AP) |
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Tokyo - A powerful 6.8-magnitude earthquake rocked Japan on Monday, killing six people and injuring hundreds as it toppled houses and sparked a fire at one of the world's biggest nuclear plants.
In the hardest-hit areas northwest of Tokyo, homes were reduced to rubble and a bridge was nearly cracked in two by the force of the mid-morning quake, which also sent small tsunami waves rolling into the Japanese coast.
As dozens of aftershocks hit, thousands of people flocked to schools and other temporary shelters to spend the night and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe broke away from election campaigning to race to the scene.
Rescue workers were hunting for anyone buried alive in the wreckage after nearly 300 buildings were flattened by the quake, which shook skyscrapers in Tokyo more than 200km from the epicentre.
Most victims elderly
"Everything in my house was a total mess. The television set and washing machine were thrown across the room," said Satoshi Hirokawa, 51, whose house in Kashiwazaki - one of the worst-hit areas - was partially destroyed.
"But I felt relieved as at least I could confirm that my family was safe."
Most of the victims were elderly. Police said that the dead included four women and one man in their 70s and 80s. The sixth victim was a man but his age was not immediately known.
At least 692 people were injured in Niigata and Nagano prefectures, local officials said.
Niigata was hit by another earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale in 2004 that killed 67 people, most of them elderly who died in the days and weeks after the first tremor from stress and fatigue.
Nuclear plant fire
"Even though there was a big one three years ago, you just can't get used to these quakes," said Tetsuya Oda, a 17-year-old high school student.
The latest quake triggered 50-centimetre tsunami waves and was followed by some 65 aftershocks that could be felt by people, the meteorological agency said.
Raising fears among residents, smoke billowed for hours from a blaze at a nuclear power plant, one of the largest in the world, which supplies electricity to the Tokyo region.
Plant officials said the reactors shut down automatically and that there was no danger of a radiation leak.
- AFP
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