Small explosion near US base in Japan- Pentagon

WASHINGTON, Feb 12 (Reuters) A small explosion was heard near a US military base in Japan but there were no reports of any injuries, a Pentagon spokesman said today.

There were also reports that some flares had been seen in the area of the Camp Zama base southwest of Tokyo at around the same time, spokesman Air Force Maj. David Smith said.

There was no immediate word on the cause of the blast.

''A small explosion was heard in the vicinity of the base,'' Smith said.

He added the explosion had not been on the base itself and that there were no reports of any injuries.

The base is about 40 km southwest of Tokyo.

Japanese news agency Kyodo, which also reported no injuries from the explosion said police searched the area near to the camp and found two pipes about 300 yards (metres) from the camp. The pipes could have been used to launch a small bomb at the camp, Kyodo quoted police as saying.

Kyodo said that the explosion was heard by resident near the camp at around 11 p.m. local time (1930 IST hrs).

Reuters KR DB2252