Strong quake jolts central Japan, injuring more than 100+

TOKYO, Aug. 11 Kyodo -
A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.5 shook Shizuoka
Prefecture in central Japan and its vicinity, including the Tokyo metropolitan
area, early Tuesday morning, injuring more than 100 people and causing two
nuclear reactors to shut down automatically.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the 5:07 a.m. quake was not the so-called
Tokai quake, a massive quake long-feared to hit the Tokai region of central
Japan, and said neither is it a prelude to it.
The agency added, however, it will further study the data on the quake.
There were no reports of deaths or missing people, according to the National
Police Agency, but at least 110 people in the quake-hit areas were injured,
some of them seriously, local authorities said.
Most of the injured were in Shizuoka Prefecture, but injuries were also
reported in Aichi and Kanagawa prefectures and in Tokyo.
Some minor tsunami waves up to 60 centimeters high were observed in Shizuoka
Prefecture, the meteorological agency said. It issued tsunami warnings shortly
after the quake but they were withdrawn after 7 a.m.
The quake, which originated about 23 kilometers under the surface of the sea in
Suruga Bay, measured a lower 6 on the Japanese seismic scale of 7 at several
points in Shizuoka, including Izu, Yaizu, Omaezaki and Makinohara, according to
the agency.
It was the first time since 1944 that a quake stronger than 6 on the seismic
scale was observed in Shizuoka Prefecture.
At the Hamaoka nuclear plant complex in Omaezaki, Shizuoka, the No. 4 and No. 5
nuclear reactors were automatically suspended, and the radioactive level at the
No. 5 reactor building temporarily went up, though there was no radiation
leakage, according to Chubu Electric Power Co.
The concentration of radioactive substances in the No. 5 reactor's spent fuel
pool surged to 50 times higher than normal, and Chubu Electric is investigating
the cause.
''As the reactors were suspended as designed, we see no problems in their quake
resistance,'' a Chubu Electric official said.
Prime Minister Taro Aso told members of a task force set up at the prime
minister's office to collect information about the quake, which hit areas the
deadly Typhoon Etau was approaching.
Central Japan Railway Co. suspended operations of shinkansen bullet trains for
two hours from 6 a.m. and local trains in Shizuoka and parts of Nagano
Prefecture.
About 100 meters of the shoulder of the Tomei Expressway collapsed in
Makinohara, Shizuoka Prefecture, and the surface of the road was raised by up
to 10 centimeters at the Kikugawa interchange, according to the local police.
Part of the expressway was closed following the quake.
In Omaezaki, water pipes burst at several points and water supplies were cut
off, while in the cities of Shizuoka, Kakegawa and Shimada in Shizuoka
Prefecture, the power supply to 9,500 households was cut off, according to the
municipal governments and Chubu Electric.
In the city of Shizuoka, four fires broke out following the quake, according to
the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.
At a catering establishment run by Tadayuki Kasai, 64, in the city, bottles of
liquor and glasses fell to the floor. ''I initially thought the feared Tokai
quake had finally come, but I feel relieved as I have not felt strong
aftershocks.''
In Ito, Shizuoka, meanwhile, Tadayuki Ishii, a 33-year-old officer worker,
said, ''The community wireless system seemed to be calling on us to evacuate
over fears of a tsunami, but I could not hear it well due to the sound of heavy
rain.''
The meteorological agency initially estimated the magnitude of the quake at 6.6
and the depth of the quake's focus at 20 km but later revised those figures.
The quake came after an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.9 jolted Tokyo and
wide areas of eastern Japan on Sunday.
==Kyodo