(Soon Tokyo & Yokohama will be hit with a massive earthquake(s) causing economic panic, not only in Japan)
TOKYO (AFP) 9-6-04 - Two strong earthquakes jolted western and central Japan within hours of each other, setting off tsunami waves and causing some panic, the meteorological agency said.
More than 20 people were injured but there was no major damage from the pair of quakes which alerted seismic officials after striking within just five hours of each other in western Japan and off the coast of the central Tokai region. The tremors caused some panic, however, with hundreds of residents fleeing buildings after they hit Japan's west at 7:07 pm (1007 GMT) and central region at 11:57 pm, measuring a revised 6.9 and 7.4 on the Richter scale, respectively.
The meteorological agency warned of waves of up to one metre for coastal areas in western and central Japan, with some reaching Wakayama prefecture, prompting some municipal governments to order residents to evacuate. Post-quake tsunami waves measuring up to one metre (3.3 feet) were observed in western and central Japan regions while television footage showed waves about the same height flowing against the stream at the mouth of a river in Owase City of Mie prefecture, western Japan.
Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK) said tsunami waves capsized five fishing boats in Tenmaura Port of Mie prefecture while broken water pipes swamped roads in Osaka. But the waves caused no major damage so far and the agency lifted all its warnings at 2:40 am.
The meteorological agency's earthquakes division said it was analysing the mechanism of the two quakes to see if they were related. "We believe it is important to watch how this will develop as we are faced with the situation we have never experienced before," said division head Masahiro Yamamoto, referring to the two large quakes happening within a short time frame in the areas.
| Don't these people watch their own movies? It's all in there! |
He said it was important to analyse data comprehensively in order to judge the tremors signal for a "Big One" which Japan fears will strike the Tokai region some time in the future.
The size of Sunday's second earthquake, whose epicentre was in the Pacific Ocean off the Tokai region, was larger than the Kobe quake which measured 7.2 on the Richter scale and killed more than 6,000 people in January 1995.
The most frequently forecast scenario for another major earthquake in Japan is that one could devastate the Tokai region from around Mount Fuji in the east to Mie prefecture in the west. |