Aftershock of magnitude 5.3 jolts central Japan

Mon Mar 26, 2007 12:18am BST
 
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WAJIMA, Japan (Reuters) - An aftershock with a preliminary magnitude of 5.3 jolted the west coast of central Japan on Monday morning, one day after a strong quake killed one person and injured nearly 200 in the same area, the Meteorological Agency said.

Sunday's 6.9 magnitude quake, which struck at 9:42 a.m. (0042 GMT), demolished houses, buckled roads, triggered landslides and cut off water supplies to thousands of homes.

About 2,600 people spent the night in shelters after 58 houses were destroyed and 455 -- many wooden structures with heavy tile roofs -- were seriously damaged by Sunday's tremor, officials and media said.

Many other residents had spent the night in their cars, as aftershocks continued to jolt the area, broadcaster NHK said.

The 5.3 aftershock struck at 7:16 a.m. on Monday (2216 GMT Sunday), and officials warned that more could be in store.

No tsunami warning was issued.

The focus of Sunday's quake -- which was also felt in Tokyo -- was 11 km (7 miles) below the seabed off the Noto peninsula in Ishikawa prefecture, about 300 km (190 miles) west of Tokyo.

 

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