2016: Tottori

Naturkatsastrophen in Japan
The Japan Times, 2016-10-21, AP,KYODO
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/10/21/national/

Homes damaged, power cut after strong quake rattles parts of western Honshu

A powerful earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.6 shook parts of western Honshu early Friday afternoon, damaging homes and roads and cutting power to almost 77,000 households.

The Meteorological Agency said the earthquake occurred at 2:07 p.m. in central Tottori Prefecture, about 7:001am, west of Tokyo, at a depth of 10 km. lt was followed by a weaker aftershock about 30 minutes later.

The agency said there was no danger of a tsunami from the inland temblor.

Okayama City Fire Department said a woman in her 70s was taken to hospital after she fell and broke her right leg. Five people are reported to have been injured in Tottori Prefecture, while others sustained injuries in Okayama, Hyogo and neighboring prefectures, according to police and other sources.

Two houses collapsed in the town of Hokuei, Tottori Prefecture, according to the local fire department. Roads were cracked and roof tiles laid strewn in the town. A number of dwellings in other parts of the prefecture suffered damage.

About 2,700 residents evacuated from their homes, according to local officials.

In Kurayoshi in the prefecture, ATMs at some local banks temporarily went offline due to a power outage.

Around 77,000 households in Tottori and Okayama prefectures were temporarily without electricity, but power was fully restored by around 5:40 p.m., according to Chugoku Electric Power Co.

West Japan Railway Co. temporarily suspended all services on the Sanyo Shinkansen Line between Shin-Osaka and Hakata stations.

The quake registered lower 6 on the Japanese seismic scale of 7 in parts of Tottori Prefecture, and upper 5 in a wide area in Tottori and Okayama prefectures, according to the agency. No abnormalities were detected at the Shimane nuclear plant, which is currently off-line, in nearby Shimane Prefecture, according to the utility. Okayama airport closed its runway to check its safety, airport officials said.

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(Source: Euronews)


 

Quake aid trickles in as Tottori rumbles on


KYODO, JIJI; 2016-10-22
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/10/22/national/

TOTTORI. Local governments in westem Honshu on Saturday started sending relief supplies to people affected a day earlier by the magnitude-6.6 earthquake in Tattori Prefecture and surroundlng areas.

Government officials delivered food and blankets to people staying in evacuatlon shelters.

As of 7 a.m. Saturday, over 2,800 evacuees were staying in shelters in Tattori, including Kurayoshi and town of Yurihama, whlch took the most damage. Some people spent the night in thelr cars.

The earthquake, which occurred at 2:07 p.m. Friday, left 15 people injured and damaged buildings and homes, according to the Tottorl Prefectural Government

"In badly jolted areas, the risks of house collapses and landslides seem to be elevated," said Gen Aoki, director of the Meteorological Agency's Earthquake and Tsunami Observation Division.

An 86-year-old man from the town of Miasa went missing on Friday but was found near his home on Saturday.

The agency wamed that the area could face more quakes of up to lower 6 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale to 7 during the next week.

The agency said since Friday's quake, more than 140 smaller temblors occurred. Among them, one magnitude-6 quake shook the area, and six with an intensity of 4 were recorded.

Of the houses damaged in Tottori, three were destroyed in the town of Hokuei and 161 partially collapsed near Kurayoshi and Yurihama, according to officials.

As some people sustained injuries due to falling roof tiles, the govemment in neighboring Hyogo Prefecture sent about 1,000 blue tarps to affected areas for makeshift repairs to the roofs.

Kurayoshi has set up a volunteer center to clean up debris.

Around 77,000 households in Tottori and Okayama prefectures were temporarily without electricity Friday, but power was fully restored by around 5:40 p.m. the same day, according to Chugoku Electric Power Co.

"I couldn't sleep at all, due to continued aftershocks" said Masami Taniguchi, 74, who stayed overnight in an elementary school's gymnasium in Kurayoshi with bis wife and some 300 others.

Noting that two major temblors measuring the maximum of 7 on the Japanese scale occurred within days in Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, in April, Taniguchi said, "We can't go home because we are afraid of such an event.

Mariko Kawamoto, a 32-year-old housewife, evacuated with her three children, who are between the ages of 4 and 7.

"My kids look all right, but seem to have felt very scared," she said. "I hope the seismic activity will subside soon . ... We want to go home early."

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People rest at a shelter In the clty of Kurayoshl, Tottori Prefecture, on Friday after they evacuated thelr homes followlng a large quake.  KYODO