SAPPORO: A big quake off Japan injured at least 30 people, authorities said on Tuesday (Dec 9), damaging roads and knocking out power for thousands in freezing temperatures.
The Japan Meteorological Agency said the magnitude 7.5 quake at 11.15pm on Monday (10.15pm, Singapore time) – downgraded from its first reading of 7.6 – raised the chances of similar or larger tremors in the coming days.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said 30 people were injured in the quake off the coast of the northern Aomori region, which triggered tsunami waves up to 70cm.
Daiki Shimohata, 33, a civil servant in Hashikami on Honshu island, told AFP that he and his family rushed outside their home.
“The tremor was something that we’ve never experienced. It lasted maybe for about 20 seconds,” Shimohata said by phone.
“We were holding our children – a two-year-old girl and a one-year-old boy – in our arms. The shaking reminded me of the disaster (in 2011),” he said.
One person was seriously hurt on the main northern island of Hokkaido, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.
Footage showed people in a supermarket clinging to a table with items having fallen off shelves, as well as crevasses in roads and at least one car in a hole.
Elsewhere, broken glass from windows was scattered on roads and pavements.
Initially, there were reports of several fires, but government spokesman Minoru Kihara said on Tuesday that there was one confirmed blaze at a house.
Source: CNA
