quake rattles tokyo; at least 28 injured Quake Rattles Tokyo; at...

quake rattles tokyo; at least 28 injured Quake Rattles Tokyo; at Least 28 Injured


Wednesday February 16, 2005 4:46 AM

AP Photo TOK801

TOKYO (AP) - A strong earthquake rattled the Tokyo area early Wednesday, injuring at least 28 people, jarring buildings and temporarily disrupting train service, officials and media reports said.

The magnitude-5.4 quake struck at 4:46 a.m. and was centered in southern Ibaraki prefecture, just north of the capital, the Meteorological Agency said. There was no danger of a tsunami, it said.

At least 28 people were injured, three seriously, in Ibaraki and surrounding prefectures, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.

A 65-year-old man suffered a serious head injury when he fell down a flight of stairs, and a 59-year-old woman fell off her bed and injured her back, Ibaraki prefectural (state) police said.

The earthquake shook buildings in central Tokyo and jolted goods off convenience store shelves near the epicenter.

But no serious property damage was reported as the quake's epicenter was 28 miles below the surface, far enough underground that much of the shock was absorbed.

Local train services were temporarily suspended in Ibaraki and transport authorities shut down an expressway to motorists for about 90 minutes as a precaution, media reports said.

Japan, which rests atop several tectonic plates, is among the most earthquake-prone countries in the world and most buildings are designed to withstand the shaking.

On Oct. 23, a magnitude-6.8 earthquake struck Niigata, about 160 miles northwest of Tokyo, killing 40 people and damaging more than 6,000 homes. The jolt was the deadliest to hit Japan since 1995, when a magnitude-7.3 quake killed 6,433 people in the western city of Kobe.