A powerful earthquake rocked Japan yesterday, killing seven people and injuring more than 750 and triggering a radiation leak at one of the world's biggest nuclear plants.
In the hardest-hit areas northwest of Tokyo, homes were reduced to rubble and a bridge was nearly cracked in two by the 6.8-magnitude mid-morning quake, which also sent small tsunami waves rolling into the Japanese coast.
Water containing a "small amount of radioactive material" leaked from the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa facility, where a fire sent black smoke into the sky for hours following the killer jolt, a company spokesman confirmed.
PHOTO: AP
"But the leakage is believed to be far below the levels that could affect the environment," said Shougo Fukuda, of Tokyo Electric, which operates the plant near the epicenter of the quake.
The plant is one of the largest in the world, with four reactors supplying power to the Tokyo region.
The firm said four reactors in operation stopped automatically but a fire broke out in the area supplying electricity.
As dozens of aftershocks struck throughout the day, thousands flocked to schools and other temporary shelters to spend the night and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe broke away from election campaigning to visit the scene.
At least 753 people were injured in Niigata while two others were still missing, local officials said.
Rescue workers were hunting for anyone buried alive in the wreckage after nearly 300 buildings were flattened by the quake, which shook skyscrapers in Tokyo more than 200km from the epicenter.
The four women and three men killed, all in their 70s or 80s, died from injuries sustained in the earthquake, according to the National Police Agency.
Niigata was hit by another earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale in 2004 that killed 67 people, most of them elderly who died in the days and weeks after the first tremor from stress and fatigue.
"Even though there was a big one three years ago, you just can't get used to these quakes," said Tetsuya Oda, a 17-year-old student.
The latest quake triggered 50cm tsunami waves and was followed by some 65 aftershocks, the meteorological agency said.
More than 300 buildings were completely destroyed and another 212 were partially damaged, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.
Abe, dressed in a relief worker's uniform, headed to the scene by military helicopter, cutting short a campaign stop ahead of elections on July 29.
Abe, who is struggling in opinion polls, said he gave instructions to his government that "all possible measures be taken to ensure the safety of residents, secure lifelines to them and relieve their anxieties."
North Korea tested nuclear-capable rocket launchers, state media reported yesterday, a day after Seoul detected the launch of about 10 ballistic missiles. The test comes after South Korean and US forces launched their springtime military drills, due to run until Thursday. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Saturday oversaw the testing of the multiple rocket launcher system (MRLS), the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. The test involved 12 600mm-caliber ultra-precision multiple rocket launchers and two artillery companies, it said. Kim said the drill gave Pyongyang’s enemies, within the 420km striking range, a sense of “uneasiness” and “a deep understanding
RECOGNITION: Former Fijian prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry said that Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy serves as a stabilizing force in the Indo-Pacific region Taiwan can lead the unification of the Chinese people, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former Polish president Lech Walesa said in Taipei yesterday, adding that as the world order is changing, peaceful discussion would find good solutions, and that the use of force and coercion would always fail. Walesa made the remarks during his keynote address at a luncheon of the Yushan Forum in Taipei, titled “Indo-Pacific Partnership Prospects: Taiwan’s Values, Technology and Resilience,” organized by the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Walesa said that he had been at the forefront of a big peaceful revolution and “if
North Korea yesterday fired about 10 ballistic missiles to the sea toward Japan, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, days after Pyongyang warned of “terrible consequences” over ongoing South Korea-US military drills. Pyongyang recently dashed hopes of a diplomatic thaw with Seoul, Washington’s security ally, describing its latest peace efforts as a “clumsy, deceptive farce.” Seoul’s military detected “around 10 ballistic missiles launched from the Sunan area in North Korea toward the East Sea [Sea of Japan] at around 1:20pm,” JCS said in a statement, referring to South Korea’s name for the body of water. The missiles
‘UNWAVERING FRIENDSHIP’: A representative of a Japanese group that co-organized a memorial, said he hopes Japanese never forget Taiwan’s kindness President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday marked the 15th anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, urging continued cooperation between Taiwan and Japan on disaster prevention and humanitarian assistance. Lai wrote on social media that Taiwan and Japan have always helped each other in the aftermath of major disasters. The magnitude 9 earthquake struck northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011, triggering a massive tsunami that claimed more than 19,000 lives, according to data from Japanese authorities. Following the disaster, Taiwan donated more than US$240 million in aid, making it one of the largest contributors of financial assistance to Japan. In addition to cash donations and
RSS