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Major quake hits north Japan

Major quake hits north Japan

TOKYO – A major earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2 jolted northern Japan yesterday, injuring at least 59 people, causing power outages and bringing trains to a halt, stranding thousands of passengers.

Buildings also swayed in Tokyo, about 300 km to the south, when the tremor struck at 11:46am but there were no reports of damage or injuries in the capital. Public broadcaster NHK said at least 22 of the 59 injured were hurt when the ceiling at an indoor swimming pool collapsed in Sendai, an industrial city of about one million.”There was a tremendous boom …People were screaming and headed toward the exit.It shook a lot …A lot of people were crying,” a young woman who was at the pool told NHK.Television showed the injured in swimsuits outside the pool and rescue workers sifting through wreckage in the water.Several aftershocks followed the initial quake, the largest with a magnitude of 4.5, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.Trains were halted including high-speed “bullet” train services, leaving 3 200 passengers stranded between stations more than five hours after the quake, NHK said.Other passengers walked along the rails to the nearest station.About 200 houses were damaged, mostly in northern Japan, Kyodo news agency said.A tsunami measuring about 10 cm high hit the coast of Miyagi prefecture, but a tsunami warning was lifted about 90 minutes after the initial quake.Tokyo’s major airports resumed operations after runways were briefly closed for checks.One highway was also briefly closed.A woman was rescued after being trapped when her wooden house collapsed in Saitama, west of Tokyo, media reports said.At one point nearly 17 000 households were without electricity but power supplies were gradually recovering, said Tohoku Electric, the main supplier to the affected region, which has several high tech factories.The focus of the tremor was 42 km below the seabed off the coast of Miyagi, the Meteorological Agency said.- Nampa-ReutersPublic broadcaster NHK said at least 22 of the 59 injured were hurt when the ceiling at an indoor swimming pool collapsed in Sendai, an industrial city of about one million.”There was a tremendous boom …People were screaming and headed toward the exit.It shook a lot …A lot of people were crying,” a young woman who was at the pool told NHK.Television showed the injured in swimsuits outside the pool and rescue workers sifting through wreckage in the water.Several aftershocks followed the initial quake, the largest with a magnitude of 4.5, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.Trains were halted including high-speed “bullet” train services, leaving 3 200 passengers stranded between stations more than five hours after the quake, NHK said.Other passengers walked along the rails to the nearest station.About 200 houses were damaged, mostly in northern Japan, Kyodo news agency said.A tsunami measuring about 10 cm high hit the coast of Miyagi prefecture, but a tsunami warning was lifted about 90 minutes after the initial quake.Tokyo’s major airports resumed operations after runways were briefly closed for checks.One highway was also briefly closed.A woman was rescued after being trapped when her wooden house collapsed in Saitama, west of Tokyo, media reports said.At one point nearly 17 000 households were without electricity but power supplies were gradually recovering, said Tohoku Electric, the main supplier to the affected region, which has several high tech factories.The focus of the tremor was 42 km below the seabed off the coast of Miyagi, the Meteorological Agency said.- Nampa-Reuters

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