[NukeNet] Fire At World's Largest Nuke Plant After Earthquake In Japan

[Bill Smirnow]

  http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-quake-japan.html
 Japan Earthquake Kills Four, Injures Hundreds
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By REUTERS
Published: July 16, 2007
Filed at 3:00 a.m. ET

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KASHIWAZAKI, Japan (Reuters) - A strong earthquake killed at least four
people in Japan on Monday, injured more than 400, flattened houses and
started a small fire at the world's largest nuclear power plant, Japanese
media and officials said.

Two women in their 80s died when their homes collapsed due to the magnitude
6.8 tremor, centered in Niigata prefecture some 250 km (155 miles) northwest
of Tokyo, Japanese media said.

Details of the other two deaths, reported by public broadcaster NHK, were
not immediately available.

"It was too strong to stand. Some people got under tables, others
immediately went outside," said police officer Masao Honma in Kashiwazaki
City, near the focus of the quake, where there were reports of at least 12
people trapped in collapsed houses.

"It's really rough," Honma told Reuters by phone.

Houses, many wooden with traditional heavy tile roofs, were flattened, a
temple roof caved in and roads cracked in the quake, which was centered in
the same northwestern area as a tremor three years ago that killed 65
people.

Nearly 100 evacuation centers were being set up, a Niigata Prefecture
official said, and troops and extra emergency teams were being sent to help
with rescue and relief efforts.

"It brought back memories of the previous quake," a middle aged woman told
television from her home, where furniture had been toppled and belongings
were scattered around.

Buildings swayed as far away as Tokyo, and nuclear power reactors in Niigata
prefecture automatically shut down for checks but there were no radiation
leaks reported.

A fire in an electrical transformer at the Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power
plant -- the world's largest -- was quickly extinguished but it was unclear
when Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) could restart three power units there,
Yoshinobu Kamijima, a company spokesman said.

Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries, with a tremor
occurring at least every five minutes.

EMERGENCY CENTRE

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe cut short campaigning for an upcoming Upper House
election and returned to Tokyo, where the government established an
emergency office to deal with the quake that officials said had damaged some
350 buildings.

"We need to take every step to save lives. It's supposed to rain tomorrow in
the area so we have to take every step to save lives, secure lifelines and
reassure people," Abe told reporters, adding he would visit the affected
area.

Bullet trains in northern Japan were halted briefly and local trains
stopped. A local train toppled off the rails, but media said no one was
injured.

Power and gas were cut to many homes and public broadcaster NHK said some
37,000 households had lost water supplies.

"We have a water tank for two days, but the city called to say they don't
know when water will be running again," said Reiko Nakao, who works at a
hotel in Kariwa village.

"Dishes and a TV fell off our shelves with the shaking. We haven't checked
the outside wall yet, but there are cracks in the pavement around the
hotel."

The 10:13 a.m. (0113 GMT) quake was centered around 60 km (37 miles)
southwest of Niigata. Monday is a holiday in Japan so financial markets were
closed.

Tsunami warning sirens sounded along affected stretches of the Sea of Japan
but the warning was later withdrawn.

Niigata was hit in October 2004 by a quake with a matching magnitude of 6.8
that killed 65 people and injured more than 3,000. That was the deadliest
quake in Japan since a magnitude 7.3 tremor hit the city of Kobe in 1995,
killing more than 6,400.

Sanyo Electric Co. spokesman Akihiko Oiwa said operations at a semiconductor
factory in Niigata, one of the firm's largest, had been halted but there had
been no reports of damage.
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