One dead in Japanese quake

Updated 10.03 Sun Mar 25 2007

Keywords: 6.9 magnitude, Earthquake, Japan, Tokyo

A strong earthquake has at least killed one person and injured more than 150 in central Japan. The quake demolished houses, buckled roads, triggered landslides and cut off water supplies to thousands of homes.

At least 25 houses collapsed and 200 were seriously damaged when the 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck.

A 52-year-old woman died in Wajima, a resort and fishing town on the western side of the peninsula, after being trapped under a stone lantern that toppled in her garden

The quake's focus was at a depth of 7 miles below the seabed off the Noto peninsula in Ishikawa prefecture, about 190 miles west of Tokyo. The peninsula is a mountainous district known for its hot spring resorts.

A 52-year-old woman died in Wajima, a resort and fishing town on the western side of the peninsula, after being trapped under a stone lantern that toppled in her garden.

In Nanao, a resort and fishing city with a population of around 60,000, ambulance services were flooded with calls to help people who had suffered burns and injuries.

About 40 people are being treated for injuries in Wajima, a town of around 34,000 people. Most people were hurt from falling down when the tremor stuck or by being hit by falling objects.

More than a thousand residents whose homes were damaged were evacuated to schools serving as shelters.

About 30 troops arrived in the area to help assess the damage and some 400 police from neighbouring are providing assistance.