Tokyo (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Four dead and over 400 wounded, numerous buildings damages and a small fire in the Kashiwazaki power plant: this is the toll, so far, from the earthquake of a 6.8 magnitude which hit this morning at 10.30 local time (1h 13m GTM) the coastal city of Niigata, 260 km North West of Tokyo.
The epicentre, about 60km (37 miles) south-west of Niigata, set of a tsunami alarm, later recalled; the waves which hit the coast were only one and a half metres tall, yet they caused extensive damage. Among the effected areas the city of Kashiwazaki, where one of the nations many nuclear power plants is sited. Flames broke out in the building were energy is transformed, but security systems automatically shut the reactor down, preventing the leaking of radioactive material.
According to eye witnesses “the violent shaking went on for 20 seconds, destroying many buildings”; aftershocks followed the main earthquake, but without causing further damage.
Niigata city is no stranger to earthquakes: in October 2004 a 6.8 magnitude earthquake (the same intensity as today’s) left at least 6 people dead wounding over 3 thousand others; in 1995 another quake hit the city of Kobe, killing 6,400 people.