TOKYO, Oct 23 (AFP) - A strong earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale and a series of aftershocks rocked central Japan Saturday, killing at least ten people including four children, officials and reports said.
The powerful tremors injured more than 700 people and destroyed several houses, as well as derailing a high-speed bullet train, according to hospital officials and press reports.
A dozen people were also unaccounted for after landslides hit a number of dwellings near the epicenter in Niigata prefecture, some 200 kilometers (125 miles) north of Tokyo, a local police spokesman said.
Transport officials were hampered by cracks and bumps on roads as they tried to reach two tunnels reported to have collapsed on the highway linking Tokyo and the city of Niigata, a major port by the Sea of Japan (East Sea).
The first quake struck at 5:56 pm (0856 GMT), swaying buildings in Tokyo for several minutes. During the next six hours 163 aftershocks followed, including four tremors measured at 6.3, 6.2, 5.9 and 5.9 on the Richter scale.
"We expect aftershocks to continue actively," Meteorological Agency official Masahiro Yamamoto said.
The focus of the first quake was located some 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) underground, a relatively shallow depth, officials said.
"I felt a strong vertical jolt first and then tremors continued for a while," Kyoichi Sato, an official at the anti-disaster office in Nagaoka, another major city in Niigata prefecture, said by telephone.
"Things fell from the shelves and people appeared surprised, but there was no panic in the city."
Dozens of people were treated for injuries at the main hospital in Nagaoka where some 2,400 residents were evacuated to shelters after power and water supplies were cut off.
The bodies of three children were recovered from a house buried in a landslide in nearby Ojiya, a municipal office spokesman said.
A 55-year-old man in the same city died after concrete blocks in his garage fell on him after the earthquake and broke his neck, a Niigata prefectural police spokesman said. A 70-year-old woman also died from shock there after she sheltered under a table.
In Tokamachi near Ojiya, a 34-year-old man was killed when a restaurant wall toppled on him and a 65-year-old woman died from shock, the police spokesman said.
A two-month-old baby boy died from shock at Tokamachi Hospital, municipal police said. A further two people also died, Kyodo news agency reported.
Five seriously injured people and some 40 others with minor injuries were taken to the hospital. "The hospital is full of people -- the injured and their families. It`s a little chaotic," an official said.
The train incident did not result in any injury among some 150 passengers on board, rail operator JR East Japan said. "The train is not overturned but it is tilting," a JR official said.
Jiji press said a few cars were buried in a landslide in Ojiya where roads caved in at some places and several houses collapsed.
A power blackout hit some 280,000 houses in the Niigata prefecture, Tohoku Electric Power Co. said.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi ordered his cabinet members to make their "utmost efforts to rescue victims and collect information related to the earthquake," according to one news report.
The defence agency set up an emergency anti-disaster office and dispatched 11 military aircraft to monitor damage to the region, an agency official said.
The quake hit as Japan was still reeling from the onslaught on Wednesday of Typhoon Tokage, which became a record 10th typhoon to ravage the country this year and killed some 79 people and left another 12 missing.
The nine previous typhoons to hit Japan caused 102 deaths and left 13 people missing and presumed dead.
10/23/2004 20:46 GMT - AFP