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Strong earthquake hits Japan coast

A man walks past a destroyed house in Ishikawa prefecture in Japan yesterday. A powerful earthquake struck the area yesterday morning, killing at least one person and injuring 160 others, media reports said. PHOTO: AP

A powerful earthquake struck Japan yesterday, killing at least one person and injuring 162 as it damaged buildings and triggered a small tsunami along the coast, officials said.

The magnitude 6.9 quake struck at 9.42am off the north coast of Ishikawa prefecture, Japan's Meteorological Agency said. The agency issued a tsunami warning urging people near the sea to move to higher land.

A small tsunami measuring 10cm hit the shore 36 minutes later, the agency said. The warning was lifted after about an hour.

Lower intensity temblors continued to strike the region throughout the afternoon. A strong temblor with a preliminary magnitude of 5.3 struck at 6.14pm, but there was no tsunami danger, the agency said. Public broadcaster NHK said the quake appeared to be an aftershock.

The morning quake toppled buildings, triggered landslides, cut power, interfered with phone service, broke water mains and snarled public transportation. The casualties were suffered along the country's Sea of Japan coast, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency (FDMA).

Fear of aftershocks and more landslides caused by the loosening of soil waterlogged by overnight rains continued to plague the quake zone.

Television footage of the quake showed buildings shaking violently for about 30 seconds. Other shots showed collapsed buildings and shops with shattered windows, streets cluttered with roof tiles and roads with cracked pavement.

At least 146 people were injured in Ishikawa, 11 seriously, the FDMA said.

Another 16 people were injured in neighboring prefectures, three seriously, it said.

Many of the injured were knocked down by the shaking or hurt by falling objects and broken glass, media reports said.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki confirmed the death of a 52-year-old woman. NHK said she was crushed by a falling stone lantern.

"We are doing our best to rescue the victims," he said. "We are also doing our best to assess the extent of the damage."

Kyodo News agency reported about 30 soldiers had arrived to help with disaster relief, and military aircraft were examining the damage. Some 375 firefighters from seven other prefectures were also dispatched to help, the FDMA said.

"We felt violent shaking. My colleagues say the insides of their houses are a mess, with everything smashed on the floor," Wataru Matsumoto, deputy mayor of the town of Anamizu near the epicenter, told NHK.

The quake also knocked down at least 45 homes in Ishikawa, and partially destroyed another 227, the FDMA said. Most of the injuries and damage were concentrated in the city of Wajima, it added.

Takeshi Hachimine, seismology and tsunami section chief at the Meteorological Agency, said the affected area was not considered earthquake-prone. The last major quake to cause casualties there was in 1933, when three people died.
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