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Powerful Quake Shakes Western Japan, 28 Injured
A powerful earthquake measuring 7.3 on the open-ended Richter scale hit a wide area of western Japan on Friday afternoon, injuring at least 28 people and damaging buildings, the Kyodo news agency said.
The National Police Agency (NPA) said 28 people were injured in Tottori, Okayama, Osaka, Hiroshima, Kagawa, Wakayama, Shimane and Yamaguchi prefectures as of 7 p.m. (1000 GMT) from the quake, which occurred at around 1:30 p.m. (0430 GMT).
In the town of Saihaku, Tottori Prefecture, local authorities issued an evacuation advisory which covered 8,140 residents following a series of aftershocks.
No tsunami or tidal wave warning was issued after the quake, whose epicenter was about 10 kilometers below ground in western Tottori Prefecture.
The quake, which was initially estimated to measure 7.1 on the Richter scale, was stronger in terms of magnitude than the Great Hanshin Earthquake of January 17, 1995, which registered 7.2 and killed more than 6,000 people.
Among the injured reported by local officials in Tottori Prefecture were several students while returning home from school, while two people in Saihaku were injured when a Shinto shrine and several houses collapsed.
In Yonago, collapsed houses blocked traffic at three locations and Yonago airport was shut down due to cracks in its runway. Leaking gas was also reported in the city, prefectural government officials said.
Landslides occurred in many parts of Tottori Prefecture, partly blocking road and railway traffic, municipal officials said.
The Japanese government set up a special task force Friday afternoon to deal with the quake.
Shinkansen bullet train services were halted between Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan, and Tokuyama in Yamaguchi Prefecture, western Japan, for four and a half hours because of a power outage caused by the quake.
In September 1943, Tottori Prefecture was shaken by a quake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale. A total of 1,083 people were killed and about 7,500 houses were destroyed.
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