A powerful 6.5-magnitude earthquake and a series of strong aftershocks struck Ishikawa Prefecture on Japan’s west coast, causing multiple homes to collapse in the city of Suzu on Friday.
(Bloomberg) — A powerful 6.5-magnitude earthquake and a series of strong aftershocks struck Ishikawa Prefecture on Japan’s west coast, causing multiple homes to collapse in the city of Suzu on Friday.
One man died and a number of landslides have been reported, National Public Safety Commission Chairman Kouichi Tani told reporters. More landslides and aftershocks may still be ahead, the Japan Meteorological Agency warned.
There is no threat of a tsunami from the quake, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said at an emergency news conference. The government is sending a team to assess the damage, he said, adding that local officials have not sought aid from the country’s Self-Defense Forces.
The quake, which hit at 2:42 p.m. local time, caused no power outages in the surrounding areas or damage to communications networks or to gas and refinery facilities, according to government ministries.
Nuclear power plants at Hokuriku Electric Power Co. and Japan Atomic Power Co. were unaffected, an official at the Japan Nuclear Regulation Authority said. Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings Inc. said on its Twitter account that its halted Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant sustained no damage from the quake.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was in Singapore meeting his counterpart Lee Hsien Loong on Friday, with plans for a summit in South Korea starting Sunday. Nothing has been decided on whether the earthquake would affect Kishida’s travel plans, Matsuno said.
Bullet train operations between Nagano and Kanazawa stations stopped shortly after the tremors began, but resumed operation later in the afternoon, West Japan Railway Co. said. Delays of up to 90 minutes affected thousands of people who were traveling during Japan’s Golden Week holidays, it said.
The quake had a depth of 12 kilometers and hit a seismic intensity of an upper 6 out of 7 on Japan’s scale to measure the degree of shaking, the country’s weather agency said. The agency earlier estimated the quake was 10-km deep and had a magnitude of 6.3.
–With assistance from Grace Huang and Takashi Hirokawa.
(Updates with National Public Safety Commission chairman comment from second paragraph)
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