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Western Japan rocked by another strong quake

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October 9, 2000 

TOKYO (AP) - Two fairly strong earthquakes rocked western Japan Sunday, two days after a more powerful tremor buckled streets, knocked down houses and paralyzed traffic for hours in a nearby region, officials said.

The first, a magnitude 5.4 earthquake, occurred at 1:17 p.m. (0117 GMT) and was centered 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) beneath eastern Shimane prefecture (state), located 610 kilometers (380 miles) southwest of the capital, the Meteorological Agency said.

The second, a 5.2 magnitude temblor, struck at about the same location at 9:00 p.m. (1200 GMT), the agency said. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage, though Kyodo News service reported some residents headed for shelters in fear of further aftershocks.

A magnitude 5 quake can crack walls in homes if it occurs in a residential area.

"There was one strong jolt. But the shaking only lasted a few seconds," said Shimane police official Masayuki Murakami of the first quake.

There was no concern of a tsunami wave as a result of the seismic activity, the Meteorological Agency said. The 5.2 quake was shortly followed by a weaker 4.4-magnitude quake in the same location

On Friday, an earthquake with preliminary magnitude of 7.3 struck a largely rural area in Tottori prefecture (state), 503 kilometers (314 miles) southwest of Tokyo. Tottori borders Shimane to the east.

Though at least 120 people were hurt in the Friday quake, none of the injuries were reported to be life threatening. Main transportation routes had almost been completely restored to the area by Saturday evening.

Of the 2,000 homes damaged by the temblor, only two were completely destroyed, Shimane police said.

The relatively light damage for such a strong earthquake has focused attention on the measurement of the magnitude, and officials conceded that they might have to lower their assessment of the quake's strength.

Earthquakes continued into Saturday in Tottori. Sunday's quake was not considered an aftershock to the Friday tremor, said Meteorological Agency official Takeshi Hachimine.