Major Japan quake injures 30, damages roads

SAPPORO, Japan, December 10 ------ A big quake off Japan injured at least 30 people, authorities said, damaging roads and knocking out power for thousands in freezing temperatures.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the magnitude 7.5 quake at 11:15 pm on Monday -- downgraded from its first reading of 7.6 -- raised the chances of similar or larger tremors in the coming days. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said 30 people were injured in the quake off the coast of the northern Aomori region, which triggered tsunami waves up to 70 centimeters. Daiki Shimohata, 33, a civil servant in Hashikami on Honshu Island, told AFP that he and his family rushed outside their home. “The tremor was something that we’ve never experienced. It lasted maybe for about 20 seconds,” Shimohata said by phone.

One person was seriously hurt in the main northern island of Hokkaido, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency. Footage showed people in a supermarket clinging to a table with items having fallen off shelves, as well as crevasses in roads and at least one car in a hole. Initially, there were reports of several fires, but government spokesman Minoru Kihara said Tuesday that there was one confirmed blaze at a house. On the main northern island of Hokkaido, an AFP reporter said the ground shook violently for around 30 seconds as smartphone alarms alerted residents.

In the city of Hachinohe, the quake reached upper six on Japan’s seven-level Shindo scale of shakiness, the point at which it’s impossible to move without crawling. With temperatures around freezing point, around 2,700 homes were without power, but by Tuesday morning, electricity had been restored to most areas, according to utility providers. At first, the JMA warned of tsunamis up to three meters, which could have caused major damage. Around 28,000 people were initially advised after the quake to evacuate, emergency services said, and media reports said some makeshift shelters were full.

In the end, the biggest waves recorded measured up to 70 centimeters, and after several hours, the tsunami warnings were lifted. Shinkansen bullet-train service was suspended in some areas while engineers checked for any damage to the tracks. The JMA warned people to be cautious of further quakes of a similar intensity for about a week. “Additionally, there is a possibility of even stronger earthquakes occurring, so please stay alert,” it said.

‘Megaquake’

Japan sits on top of four major tectonic plates along the western edge of the Pacific “Ring of Fire” and is one of the world’s most tectonically active countries. The archipelago, home to around 125 million people, experiences around 1,500 jolts every year. The vast majority are mild, although the damage they cause varies according to their location and depth below the Earth’s surface.

Quakes are extremely hard to predict, but in January, a government panel marginally increased the probability of a major jolt in the Nankai Trough off Japan in the next 30 years to 75-82 percent. The government then released a new estimate in March saying that such a “megaquake” and subsequent tsunami could cause as many as 298,000 deaths and damage of up to $2 trillion.

Source: manilatimes.net