ENGLISH DEYEA NEWS

Trains are halted and nuclear reactors are shut down for safety checks

AP The shoulder of a highway is caved in after a magnitude 6.6 earthquake hit the area of Makinohara, west of Tokyo on Tuesday.

NBC News | PORT BLAIR, India - A powerful earthquake hit Tokyo and nearby areas shortly after dawn Tuesday, halting trains and forcing two nuclear reactors to be shut down for safety checks. At least seven people suffered minor injuries.

The U.S. Geological Survey said another, unrelated quake with a 7.6 magnitude hit the Indian Ocean about 160 miles north of Port Blair in India's Andaman Islands. A tsunami watch was called for India, Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand and Bangladesh. The caution was later lifted without any tsunami being recorded.

On Dec. 26, 2004, about 230,000 people were killed in a dozen countries around the Indian Ocean when a magnitude 9.0 earthquake triggered a tsunami. Tuesday's Andaman Islands' quake was 20.6 miles deep, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

In Japan's magnitude-6.5 temblor, at least seven people were slightly hurt, the National Police Agency said. Public broadcaster NHK reported 43 were injured.

Quake later downgraded
Japan's Meteorological Agency — which later downgraded the quake from 6.6 — also issued a tsunami warning, but that was later lifted. The quake was centered off Suruga Bay, southwest of Tokyo, at a depth of 12 miles.

A small increase of waves of up to 23 inches was observed along the coastline of Yaizu city, the agency said.

Central Japan Railway Co. has suspended operations of Shinkansen bullet trains but resumed service, but some local trains were still out of service, the company said.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura told reporters the government set up a task force at the prime minister's office.

"We are trying to assess the extent of damage as quickly as possible," Kawamura said. "We'll do our best to rescue those who were affected."

Local trains and two reactors at the Hamaoka nuclear power plant were temporarily halted for safety checks. No damage was reported, however. Reactors are automatically shut down whenever a quake of a certain strength is registered.

NHK said a 5-year-old boy suffered a leg injury when he was hit by a falling TV set. Small landslides were reported in the town of Nishi Izu, but there were no injuries, said town official Mieko Hayama.

Japan has recently been hit by heavy typhoon rains, and officials warned residents in mountainous areas to be cautious because the ground may be loose and landslides may be generated by the quake or aftershocks.

NHK also reported two older people were hit by falling objects, and another tripped and fell and was slightly injured.

Touring the coastal areas
Kinichi Tashiro, an emergency official at the Yaizu city fire station, said officials were touring the coastal areas in the city to monitor the situation, but he has not received any reports of damage.

"I was in the bathroom just as the quake hit. It shook rather violently," Tashiro said in a televised interview with NHK. Tashiro said there was no damage to his home and observed no major problem in the neighborhood as he rushed to the office.

A magnitude 6.9 quake rattled the region Sunday, but caused no damage or casualties. The U.S. Geological Survey measured it at magnitude 7.1.

Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries, and experts believe Tokyo has a 90 percent chance of being hit by a major quake over the next 50 years.

In 1995, a magnitude-7.2 quake in the western port city of Kobe killed 6,400 people.