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| Another powerful earthquake has hit northern
Japan, two days after a series of deadly tremors jolted the same
area killing at least 23 people and injuring more than
1,200.(Agencies) |
Another powerful earthquake has hit northern Japan, two days after a
series of deadly tremors rattled the same area killing at least 23 people
and injuring more than 1,200.
The latest shock, measuring 5.6, hit the rural region of Niigata at
6:05 a.m. (9:05 p.m. GMT) and was also felt in the Japanese capital Tokyo,
260 kilometers (155 miles) to the south.
The focus was about 10 kilometers (6 miles) below the earth's surface,
Japan's national broadcaster NHK reported.
At least one building in Niigata collapsed as a result of the latest
quake, Reuters news service reports.
Meanwhile, thousands of weary and frightened residents in northern
Japan spent a second night in shelters, cars or in the open after
Saturday's tremors.
Television pictures showed hundreds of people crammed together under
covers and coats in one shelter.
Many complained that they had little or no food, as they waited for
supplies to reach the mountainous area, some parts of which have been cut
off by landslides, NHK said.
Other residents have begun salvaging belongings from their flattened
homes, as hundreds of people suffering injuries overwhelmed local
hospitals.
"After the first earthquake, I ran to my shop," one woman said.
"Then the next one hit and I was clinging to a pillar. I ran out with
nothing in my hands. All I have left is what I am wearing now."
The earth movement was so powerful from Saturday's quakes that it also
was felt in Tokyo, where the city's skyscrapers swayed for about a
minute.
The first of three temblors was a 6.8-magnitude quake centered in
Ojiya. It rocked the area on Saturday evening, knocking a bullet train
from its rails and ripping through roadways.
Several strong quakes followed through the night, and aftershocks
continued to jolt the area Sunday morning.
The region was hit with blackouts , ruptured water mains and
cracked and buckled roads reports said.
The bullet train derailment was the first since such trains began
running in Japan in 1964.
A second-floor supermarket collapsed as it was busy with customers.
Across the state, 61,000 people were evacuated to emergency shelters
and in Ojiya, 5,290 people took refuge at 50 different evacuation centers,
AP quoted an official as saying.
The temblors came just days after Japan's deadliest typhoon in more
than a decade, which left 78 people dead and a dozens missing.
Saturday's temblors caused mudslides in areas where the storm's
torrential rains had loosened the ground.
Japan is among the world's most earthquake-prone countries.
(Agencies) | 
Updated: 2004-10-25 14:30