Japan Today

Friday, September 26, 2003 at 13:00 JST
TOKYO — Two powerful earthquakes registering magnitudes of 8.0 and 7.1 on the Richter scale struck Hokkaido early Friday, injuring more than 450 people and leaving one man dead from a quake-related accident, while two people went missing.

The quakes caused power outages, tidal waves and a fire at an oil refinery, while air, sea and land transportation was also disrupted for most of the day in Japan's northernmost main island.

The first quake rocked Hokkaido at 4:50 a.m., measuring a lower 6 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale in the towns of Shizunai, Urakawa, Kushiro, Niikappu and five other municipalities on the southern coast of Hokkaido.

The second came at 6:08 a.m., registering a lower 6 in Urakawa and upper 5 in Niikappu.

A quake of magnitude 8 on the Richter scale can cause widespread destruction and is regarded as severe. In the Japanese seismic classification scale of up to 7 measuring the intensity of tremors on Earth's surface, an intensity-6 earthquake can damage houses, trigger landslides and crack roads.

Dozens of aftershocks have followed the two temblors, with one at around 3:30 p.m. having an estimated magnitude of 6.2 and registering 4 on the Japanese scale in the Kushiro area.

Some 41,000 people in Hokkaido evacuated their homes on the advice of local authorities after tsunami warnings were issued, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.

The Geographical Survey Institute said the measurement point for the satellite global positioning system in the town of Erimo had moved about 87 centimeters to the east-southeast as a result of the tremors and similar land movements were also observed in nearby regions.

Damage was concentrated in the towns of Shizunai and Urakawa where the effects of the temblors were the greatest, with items in homes and stores scattered around and cracks made in roads and buildings.

In 1994, a magnitude-8.2 quake also off the eastern coast of Hokkaido hit the Kushiro area and injured 436 people.

On Friday morning, the government set up an emergency task force at the prime minister's office in Tokyo, disaster management minister Kiichi Inoue told reporters.

The central government dispatched a survey team of about 30 members to Hokkaido.

Concerning casualties, Seiichi Ogasawara, 61, a garbage collector, was hit by a car and killed in the town of Nakashibetsu, eastern Hokkaido, as he was cleaning up beer bottles that had scattered on the road.

The Hokkaido government said 455 people were injured while two people went missing.

In the town of Toyokoro, Hokkaido police are searching for two men who are unaccounted for having left their cars at the mouth of a river, with the possibility they may have been washed into the river.

The first earthquake originated 42 kilometers below sea level off the coast of the Kushiro area, and the second had its epicenter around 21 km below sea level off the Tokachi area of southern Hokkaido, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

A tsunami of 1.3 meters struck the coast of Urakawa on Hokkaido's southern shoreline at 6:24 a.m. and another tidal wave about 1.2 meters high hit the Kushiro shoreline at 9:03 a.m.

The Sapporo regional meteorological observatory is warning residents in Hokkaido, especially on the Pacific side, to beware of landslides as rainfall of between 10 to 20 millimeters per 24 hours is predicted through Saturday.

An express train run by Hokkaido Railway Co. (JR Hokkaido) derailed in Ombetsu, injuring one of the 39 passengers on board. JR Hokkaido said the company temporarily suspended all train services.

Kushiro airport was shut down because the ceiling of the control tower was damaged, but there was no harm done to the runway, the transport ministry said. Airport operations resumed at 3 p.m., but airlines had canceled most of the day's scheduled flights to and from Kushiro airport.

Road traffic was suspended on some sections of Hokkaido's key highways to check for damage, while police officers were directing traffic as stoplights were not working due to a power outage.

Water supply was also disrupted over extensive parts of the affected areas as a result of damage to water pipes.

A fire broke out at a petroleum tank in Idemitsu Kosan Co's refinery in Tomakomai, a coastal city in southern Hokkaido, but it was contained just past noon, company officials said. There were no injuries resulting from the fire.

Hokkaido Electric Power Co. said 370,000 homes were initially hit by a blackout in Hokkaido. Electricity was restored by 9 p.m.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi instructed cabinet ministers Friday morning to find out whether there has been any damage on four Russian-held islands off Hokkaido claimed by Japan and to consider providing assistance if needed, Japanese government officials said.

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