Scores hurt in magnitude-6.5 quake in central Japan

Aug 11, 2009, 5:16 GMT

   Tokyo - Scores of people were injured Tuesday when a magnitude-6.5 earthquake struck central Japan, causing the automatic shutdown of two nuclear reactors.

   No radiation leakage was detected at the reactors in Omaezaki in Shizuoka prefecture, their operator, the Chubu Electric Power Co, said, according to the Kyodo News agency.

   At least 81 people, were injured, some of them seriously, NHK Television said, as the quake radiated out from Shizuoka and was also felt in Tokyo, where it caused high rises to sway.

   Walls collapsed, goods were shaken off store shelves and pavement was broken up around the quake's epicentre.

   Highways were temporarily blocked and train services suspended, and thousands of bottles were toppled in a beverage factory. Severe damage, however, was not reported.

   Minor tidal waves were seen along the eastern coast in Shizuoka, but a tsunami warning issued shortly after the quake struck at 5:07 am (2007 GMT Monday) was lifted a few hours later.

   The Japan Meteorological Agency said the quake was centred in Suruga Bay, 155 kilometres south-west of Tokyo, at a depth of 23 kilometres.

   The agency said the quake would not trigger a feared massive quake in the central region of Tokai, which seismologists have predicted would, in any case, strike sometime in the future.

   The Shizuoka quake rattled Japan after a magnitude-6.9 tremor hit Sunday in an around Tokyo.

   Japan is one of the countries worst affected by earthquakes in the world.