Strong earthquakes rattles Japan

[senorpepr]

A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 and two big aftershocks hit northern Japan today, derailing a train, triggering at least one landslide and causing widespread power outages, media reported.

The focus of the initial quake, which struck at around 5:56pm local time, was 20 kilometers deep in Niigata prefecture, some 250km north of Tokyo.

At least one person had died, Kyodo news agency reported.

The jolts were also felt strongly in the capital.

An aftershock measuring 5.9 struck at around 6:12pm and another at 6:34pm with a magnitude of 6.3.

A bullet train had derailed in Niigata and an expressway had partially collapsed, media reports said.

A railway official said he was still checking on the derailment reports.

No tsunami warning was issued but several people were hurt when they were hit by objects that fell from shelves and some of bullet trains were halted, national broadcaster NHK said.

Several strong earthquakes shook northwestern Japan in less than an hour on Saturday, toppling homes, causing blackouts, cutting water services and derailing a bullet train.

At least nine people were reported injured.

Media reports said the shaking in some parts of Niigata was so severe that people had difficulty standing. Buildings hundreds of miles away in Tokyo swayed several times for up to a minute at one point.

Five people were reported injured by objects that had fallen from shelves in Ojiya, public broadcaster NHK said. Four others were hurt in nearby Tokamachi city, and homes in other towns and cities had collapsed, NHK said.

Sewage and water mains burst, power and telephone services were down and roads cracked, officials told Japanese media. Near Ojiya, trees and soil on a hillside sheared away, burying several cars on a road below, NHK said.

The jolt triggered an automatic safety device that halted most train services, according to media reports. Railway officials said a bullet train had derailed near Nagaoka city, in Niigata prefecture, and another express train headed to Niigata had jumped its tracks and was lying on its side. It wasn't clear how many passengers were aboard the trains or whether there were any injuries.

The quakes the first of which measured a magnitude 6.8 and struck at 5:56 p.m. were centered near Ojiya city about 12 miles beneath the earth's surface, the Meteorological Agency said. Ojiya is in the state of Niigata, about 160 miles northwest of Tokyo.

The other tremors, which hit intermittently over roughly 40 minutes, included a magnitude 6.2 and 5.9 quake, and less severe aftershocks followed, the agency said.

The quakes measured 6 on the Japanese scale in many parts of Niigata, meaning it would be difficult to keep standing.

The Japanese scale runs as high as seven.

NHK also said a landslide had buried three cars.

Japan is one of the world's most seismically active areas, with an earthquake occurring every five minutes.

The country accounts for about 20 per cent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude six or greater.