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CHIKAKO MOGI Associated Press Writer
KURE,
Japan (AP)--Aftershocks rattled southwestern Japan on Monday
as residents began picking up the pieces following a powerful
earthquake that killed two people and damaged the region's
infrastructure.
The
magnitude-6.4 temblor struck southwestern Japan on Saturday
afternoon, collapsing buildings, snapping power lines and
severing water mains. The quake shook windows as far away
as South Korea.
The
strongest of 22 aftershocks to shake the region was a magnitude-5.2
earthquake that struck at 5:41 a.m., the Meteorological
Agency said.
Koji
Fujimoto, a spokesman for the police in Hiroshima state,
said Monday that there were some reports of small cracks
on roads, but no other damage or injuries were reported
after the latest quake.
Monday's
aftershock was centered about 31 miles under the seabed
off the southern coast of Hiroshima state, very close to
the epicenter of Saturday's quake and the smaller aftershocks.
A magnitude-4.7
tremor Sunday night was strong enough to disrupt high-speed
train service. Railway officials found no damage on tracks
Monday, but bullet trains were running at a reduced speed
in the affected area.
Hiroshima,
430 miles southwest of Tokyo, was the hardest hit of seven
southwestern states that recorded heavy seismic activity
in Saturday's earthquake.
The
quake's toll stood at two dead and 174 injured. An 80-year-old
woman died in the town of Kure when she was buried under
rubble. In nearby Ehime state, a 50-year-old woman fleeing
her home was killed by falling roof tiles.
A total
of 7,122 buildings in southwestern Japan sustained some
damage, the Home Affairs Ministry in Tokyo said. The quake
littered streets with roof tiles and window shards.
About
120 people living in and around the bustling city of Hiroshima
had to leave damaged homes, said Masayoshi Yatsu, a spokesman
for the government's disaster prevention office. The economic
impact to Hiroshima industries was estimated at around $2.8
million,
In Kure,
a town of old-fashioned wooden houses and narrow winding
streets about 12 miles south of Hiroshima, residents cleared
away rubble to let cars pass and lined up outside relief
centers for water and vinyl sheets to patch broken roofs.
About 10,000 homes remained without water Sunday.
``I've
never been so scared in my life,'' said Kure resident Hatsue
Michinaka, 84, said as she swept up debris from a collapsed
wall.
Japan
is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries. It
straddles three tectonic plates, the huge slabs of land
that cover the surface of the Earth.
Saturday's
quake was centered off the coast of Japan and relatively
deep under the sea, some 40 miles below ground, which may
have softened its impact.
In October,
a magnitude-7.3 earthquake struck a largely rural area in
Tottori state, northwest of Hiroshima. No one was killed
but at least 120 people were injured and some 2,000 homes
damaged.
Some
6,000 people died when an earthquake devastated the western
Japan port city of Kobe in 1995.
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