Residents in western Japan were cleaning up debris yesterday after a powerful earthquake hit the area around Osaka, killing three people and injuring hundreds while knocking over walls and setting off fires.
The magnitude 6.1 quake that struck early yesterday damaged buildings and left many homes without water or gas. It also grounded flights in and out of Osaka, and paralyzed traffic and commuter trains most of the day.
By the evening, bullet trains and some local trains had resumed operation, with stations swollen with commuters trying to get home, many of them waiting in long lines. An exodus of commuters who chose to walk home filled sidewalks and bridges.
Photo: AFP
Some commuters took refuge at nearby shelters instead of going home. Footage on Japan’s NHK public television showed dozens of men wearing ties and carrying briefcases sitting on gym mats at a junior high school gymnasium in Ibaraki city, where some families also gathered.
A nine-year-old girl, Rina Miyake, was killed by a falling concrete wall as she walked at her elementary school in Takatsuki, while the two other fatalities were men in their 80s.
Takatsuki Mayor Takeshi Hamada apologized over Miyake’s death because of the collapse of the wall, which was old and made of concrete blocks.
One 80-year-old man died in the collapse of a concrete wall in Osaka, while an 85-year-old man in Ibaraki died after a bookcase fell on top of him at home, authorities said.
Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency said 307 people have been treated at hospitals in five prefectures, with most of the injured in Osaka.
Osaka officials did not give details, but the injuries reported in Kyoto and three other prefectures were all minor.
The quake struck shortly after 8am north of Osaka at a depth of about 13km, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
The strongest shaking was north of Osaka, but the quake rattled large parts of western Japan, including Kyoto, the agency said.
Dozens of domestic flights in and out of Osaka were grounded, while train and subway services in the Osaka area, including bullet trains, were suspended to check for damage.
The quake knocked over walls, broke windows and set off scattered building fires.
It toppled bookcases in homes, scattered goods on shop floors, cracked roads and broke water pipes, leaving homes without water and toppled a part of at least one Osaka temple.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga ordered the Ministry of Education to conduct nationwide safety checks of concrete block structures at public schools.
More than 1,000 schools were closed in Osaka and nearby prefectures, Kyodo News reported.
Many homes and buildings, including a major hospital, were temporarily without power, though electricity was restored at most places by midafternoon.
Due to damage to underground gas lines, 110,000 homes in Takatsuki and Ibaraki cities were without gas, and repairs are expected to take as long as two weeks, according to Osaka Gas Co.
Defense troops joined rescue and relief operations in parts of Osaka, along with special vehicles to deliver clean drinking water.
Meteorological agency officials warned of strong aftershocks in the area.
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