Japan earthquake: Death toll climbs after 6.1 temblor strikes Osaka
Some commuters took refuge in nearby shelters instead of going home. 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.
Also in Takatsuki, a concrete wall at an elementary school fell onto the street, killing 9-year-old Rina Miyake as she walked to the school. NHK showed the collapsed upper half of the high wall, which was painted cheerfully with flowers, trees and blue sky and surrounded the school swimming pool.
A man in his 80s died in the collapse of a concrete wall in Osaka city. An 85-year-old man in nearby Ibaraki died after a bookcase fell on top of him at home, according to the disaster management agency.
BBC News cites officials who say another tremor could happen in the next few days.
The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said 307 people were treated for injuries at hospitals. Most of the injured were in Osaka. Osaka officials did not give details, but the injuries reported in Kyoto and three other neighboring prefectures were all minor.
BBC News also notes that several key industrial areas near Osaka were affected. Companies like Panasonic and Daihatsu are suspending production at their affected sites.
Dozens of domestic flights in and out of Osaka were grounded, while train and subway service in the Osaka area, including bullet trains, was suspended to check for damage. Passengers exited trains on the tracks between stations.
Some manufacturers, including automakers Daihatsu Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co., electronics makers Panasonic and Sharp Corp., and confectioners Ezaki Glico Co. and Meiji Co., temporarily stopped production lines at their factories in the region for safety checks, news reports said.
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.
More building damage was found in the afternoon as disaster and relief workers inspected and cleaned up the affected areas. Roofs and roof tiles at homes and at least one temple fell to the ground in Osaka. At a shrine in Kyoto, stone lanterns broke and collapsed to the ground.
Defense troops joined rescue and relief operations in parts of Osaka, along with special vehicles to deliver clean drinking water.
The earthquake reminded many of the magnitude 7.3 Kobe quake in 1995 that killed more than 6,000 people in the region. Monday's quake also followed a series of smaller quakes near Tokyo in recent weeks. Japan's northern prefectures are still recovering from a magnitude 9.0 quake and tsunami in 2011 that killed more than 18,000.
"It was not as bad as the Kobe quake," said Jun Kawanami, a 30-year-old lawyer in Osaka. He said his wife ducked under a table and elevators in his office building were out of operation. "I used the stairs but I was out of breath by the time I arrived at my office on the 22nd floor," he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.