Strong Earthquake Kills One on Japan IslandOne person was killed and several injured when a strong earthquake jolted islands to the south of Tokyo on Saturday, triggering landslides and cutting power.Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori sent troops and helicopters to the area to help with rescue work. Officials warned more quakes could follow. The island of Kozushima, 180 km (108 miles) south of Tokyo, was hardest hit by the tremor that measured 6.4 on the open-ended Richter scale and tore rocks from mountainsides, the Meteorological Agency said. "I have never felt an earthquake as strong as this," Kenji Sakashita, a local Kozushima government official told NHK. Officials said a 31-year-old man was killed when his car was swept away by a rockslide. Two other vehicles were damaged. Several residents of an old people's home were injured. Fire department officials with megaphones patrolled the streets in search of more injured. The quake struck the lightly populated islands of Kozushima and Niijima at 4.02 p.m. (0702 GMT). Its epicentre was about 10 km miles beneath the sea bed between two islands, about 200 km south of Tokyo. It followed several smaller tremors in the last few days and was felt as far away as Tokyo. Officials said more earthquakes of a magnitude of more than 5.0 were possible, but there was no danger of a tsunami, or tidal wave, churned up by the seismic activity. Prime Minister Mori headed to an emergency management centre in Tokyo a few minutes after the tremor and ordered helicopters and troops to the islands to help in the crisis. The earthquake comes just days after officials allowed residents of the neighbouring island of Miyakejima to go home after they were evacuated following strong seismic activity that had raised fears the island's volcano would erupt. "The volcanic activity loosened the tectonic plates in the area and caused conditions that could cause further quakes," a Meteorological Agency official told a news conference. The islands are part of a chain of seven south of Tokyo that are popular tourist destinations for Tokyo residents. Miyakejima's Mount Oyama volcano last erupted in 1983, destroying 400 houses and leaving a moonscape of rock, burning out nearby forests and destroying a lake. A lava flow from an eruption in 1940 killed 11 people and it erupted again in 1962. The volcano watch is the second for Japan this year. In late March, a volcano erupted on Mount Usu on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido for the first time in 22 years. Thousands were forced to flee their homes. No casualties were reported. |
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