World

Japan Hit By A Powerful Quake

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

October 6, 2000 / 1:59 AM EDT / CBS

Japanese officials are counting their blessings after a powerful earthquake hit southwestern Japan, but shook much of the country, reports CBS News Correspondent Barry Petersen.

It was the strongest earthquake in five years, hitting at around 1:30 p.m., measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale. About 28 people have been injured and about two dozen homes have been destroyed.

Its epicenter was some 6 miles underground in the largely rural western Tottori prefecture.

Landslides blocked roads. Two nuclear power plants were shut down for inspection with no reports of damage.

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori told reporters at his official residence that there had been no deaths so far and that he did not plan to set up an emergency task force.

"We believe that the quake has not caused any large number of casualties or any huge damage," Tadao Ando, head of the government's crisis management team, told a news conference.

Two people were rescued after being buried by landslides at two construction sites in Shimane prefecture on the coast of the Sea of Japan, a police spokesman said.

He said casualty figures for the region were likely to increase as more details emerged.

The quake was Japan's strongest since January 17, 1995, when a devastating quake killed more than 6,000 people and caused huge damage in the western port city the Kobe.

Rural areas were among the hardest hit by Friday's tremor, although the impact could even be felt in parts of Tokyo, about 360 miles east of the worst hit areas.

"I've never experienced such a strong earthquake in my life," a woman in Yonago told NTV. "I run a beauty parlor, and I grabbed a customer and held onto her, and we both crouched on the floor."

The Meteorological Agency said there was a 40 percent chance of aftershocks measuring more than 6 on the Richter scale within a day.

"I felt a big jolt, and then there was shaking for at least 10 seconds and I couldn't stand up," said one NHK reporter.

The Defense Agency, Japan's military, said it had sent one reconnaissance plane and a helicopter to the area, and F-15 fighter planes were dispatched to collect data on the impact of the quake.

Japan's coast guard also joined in emergency operations, sending 19 aircraft and 50 patrol boats.

Kenji Matsumoto, an official at the city of Sakai Minato in Tottori prefecture where damage appeared to be the worst, told NHK at least seven homes were destroyed and four others damaged. Water mains, roads and highways in the city suffered damage, but there was no report of casualties, he said.

Shinkansen bullet train services were halted between Toyohashi in Aichi prefecture, central Japan, and Shin-Iwakuni in Yamaguchi prefecture, western Japan, and some smaller airports were closed for checks.

Bullet train service between Tokyo and the western metropolis of Osaka was temporarily halted but later resumed.

An electric power industry associatin official said no impact was reported on nuclear power plants in the area because they were shut for maintenance.

The tremor shook Japan's Suzuka race track, where the penultimate Formula One race of the season takes place on Sunday. Journalists at the circuit's media center headed for the exits as the building swayed.

No tidal wave warnings were issued.

Companies with factories in the region said they had suffered no major damage, though some halted operations for inspection.

Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone regions, sitting atop the juncture of three tectonic plates, or pieces of the earth's crust. Tens of thousands of quakes have jolted the Izu island chain south of Tokyo in recent months.