Three Powerful Earthquakes Kill 20 People in Niigata, Japan

In northwestern area of Japan, the rural Niigata Prefecture in Tyuetsu region, at least 20 people were killed and 1,500 people injured after three powerful earthquakes of magnitude higher than 6 (with the highest registering 6.8), including 257 aftershocks, occurred between Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning.

Following the earthquake, the Japanese government established an emergency headquarters under the aegis the prime minister’s office of Crisis Management Center. Also, Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro ordered the Center to “make every possible effort to rescue the victims and take hold of the situation.”

Due to the earthquakes, several gas pipes exploded and telegraph poles were knocked down, leaving 158,000 households without electricity and 50,000 households without gas until noon on Sunday.

The bullet train Shinkansen, destined to Niigata, derailed for the first time in 40 years. The magnitude of that quake was 6.8, which exceeds the domestic nuclear power plant aseismatic structure of 6.5.

Japan`s Meteorological Agency warned that, “The aftermath is expected to last about a week” because torrential rains loosened the ground, possibly leading to several landslides.

The first earthquake occurred in Niigata, Ojiya, on Saturday at 5:56 p.m., causing severe damage because the quake’s center was near the surface of the earth, only 20 km below ground, located in nearby Tyuetsu. There was also an earthquake of a magnitude of 4 in Tokyo, located 260 km away from Niigata, causing fear among the local residents.

When an earthquake with a magnitude over 6 occurs, a person cannot stand upright without assistance because the ground sways like a wave, even destroying buildings made of reinforced concrete.

Hun-Joo Cho hanscho@donga.com