RACER

Updated: 10:37 AM EDT
Several Strong Earthquakes Shake Japan
Reports Say Three Killed, Nearly 300 Injured
By KENJI HALL, AP

TOKYO (Oct. 23) - Several powerful earthquakes rattled northwestern Japan over a two-hour span on Saturday, toppling homes, causing blackouts, cutting water and gas and derailing a bullet train. Media reported three people dead and about 300 injured.

Several people also were reported missing.

The quakes - the first of which measured magnitude 6.8 and struck at 5:56 p.m. - were centered near the city of Ojiya about 12 miles beneath the earth's surface, the Meteorological Agency said. Ojiya is in Niigata prefecture (state), 160 miles northwest of Tokyo.

At least a half dozen more tremors, the strongest of which hit intermittently over two hours, included quakes of magnitude 6.2 and 5.9. Aftershocks followed, some just as forceful, the agency said.

AzF

I was in Tokyo and the shaking was not violent there, barely noticed them infact.

Austblue

Isn't it amazing that the death toll is still in single figures yet in Iran a quake that only registered 6.6 killed 25000. BTW on the news here this morning they said that 8 had been confirmed dead

Link to the Iran quake for those that missed it
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/12/29/iran.quake/

hapa

craziness dude. if you have ever been to Japan and see the density of people there you undestand how damgerous that could be!

RazorV3

it is amazing and sad. the city of "bam" (where the quake occured in iran) is an ancient city and the buildings are all original, meaning they're very weak structures. it's no suprise that so many died during that quake, the homes just fell on top of them.