Oct. 24, 2004
CNN
OJIYA, Japan -- 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 2,000.
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.
"There were 300 customers inside when the earthquake hit, and everyone tried to grab something nearby to keep from being knocked off their feet," store manager Reiko Takahashi was reported by the Associated Press as saying.
Takejiro Hoshino, 75, lost his 12-year-old grandson when their house collapsed.
"I got out and then we all went back to try to save the others, but it was too late," Hoshino said.
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. (Full story)
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.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/10/24/japan.quake/index.html