Strong quake hits Japan as typhoon nears

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Strong quake hits Japan as typhoon nears
11th August 2009, 6:00 WST

A powerful earthquake measuring 6.4 hit Tokyo and nearby areas shortly after dawn this morning, reportedly injuring more than 40 people and triggering fires while also shutting down a nuclear power plant and bullet trains.

The US Geological Survey said another, unrelated quake with a 7.6 magnitude hit the Indian Ocean about 257km north of Port Blair in India’s Andaman Islands.

A tsunami watch was called for India, Burma, Indonesia, Thailand and Bangladesh. But the caution was lifted without any tsunami being recorded.

The Andaman Islands quake was reported to be 33.15km deep, the US Geological Survey said.

Japan’s Meteorological Agency also issued a tsunami warning from the Japanese temblor early today, which centred off the Suruga Bay, southwest of Tokyo. The warning was also later lifted. The quake occurred at a depth of 20km. Public broadcaster NHK said a small increase of waves of some 30 cm was observed along the coastline of Yaizu City.

The quake shook buildings and jolted people from their sleep in and around the capital Tokyo, a region bracing for the predicted arrival of a typhoon later in the day.

At least 42 people suffered injuries, public broadcaster NHK reported, but most are believed to be minor.

Jiji Press said three fires broke out in Shizuoka prefecture, citing police and emergency services in the worst-hit area, where some objects were thrown from shelves.

Four people were taken to the prefecture’s Yaizu City Hospital with minor injuries, including one pregnant woman, a hospital official said earlier.

“One of them was hurt on the head as some objects fell, but no one so far is in a serious condition,” the official said.

The Hamaoka nuclear plant in Shizuoka immediately shut down two reactors after the quake, the operator Chubu Electric Power Co said, with a company official adding that “no abnormalities are seen at the plant.”

Central Japan Railway Corporation temporarily suspended Shinkansen bullet trains in the quake-hit region.

Prime Minister Taro Aso’s office set up an emergency centre shortly after the quake, which was followed by 13 noticeable aftershocks.

Japan has recently been hit by heavy typhoon rains, and officials warned residents in mountainous areas to be cautious because the ground may be loose and landslides may be generated by the quake of aftershocks.

Typhoon Etau - which has brought torrential rains that had caused at least 13 deaths from flooding and landslides yesterday - was heading towards Shizuoka and Tokyo, the meteorological agency said.

“As the typhoon is approaching ... there are concerns about possible landslides. Please be vigilant,” an official at the meteorological agency told a news conference.

The USGS said the quake measured 6.4 on the moment magnitude scale, while the Japanese agency said the quake measured 6.5 on the Japanese scale, which measures how strongly an earthquake is felt by people.

An earthquake also jolted eastern Japan on Sunday. Around 20 per cent of the world’s most powerful earthquakes strike the country.

TOKYO
AFP