Japan earthquake kills six, injures hundreds

KASHIWAZAKI, Japan, July 16 (Reuters) A strong earthquake flattened houses in northwestern Japan today, killing at least six people, forcing the evacuation of thousands and sparking a small fire at the world's biggest nuclear power plant.

Buildings swayed as far away as Tokyo, and nuclear power reactors in Niigata prefecture automatically shut down for checks but there were no radiation leaks reported.

Two women in their 80s died when their houses collapsed during the magnitude 6.8 tremor and a police spokesman confirmed six deaths, including that of an 83-year-old man. Another elderly woman and a couple were also reported among the dead.

More than 700 people were injured.

''First there was a sharp vertical jolt and then it shook sideways for a long time and I couldn't stand up. Tall shelves fell over and things flew around,'' said Harumi Mikami, 55, a teacher who was at her school in Kashiwazaki City, near the focus of the quake in Niigata prefecture about 250 km northwest of Tokyo.

The quake halted gas service to about 35,000 homes and disrupted the water supply to all of Kashiwazaki, a city with a population of around 95,000 that was hardest hit by the quake, media and officials said.

About 25,000 homes in Niigata prefecture were without electricity, a local official said.

Houses, many wooden with traditional heavy tile roofs, were flattened, a temple roof caved in and roads cracked in the quake, which was centred in the same northwestern area as a tremor three years ago that killed some 65 people.

''My house is half destroyed and the pillars are damaged,'' Mikami said. ''My biggest worry is where I will live now.'' TV footage showed one elderly woman, apparently alive, being rescued from the wreckage of her collapsed house some five hours after the quake.

About 4,900 people had fled their homes to nearly 100 evacuation centres as scores of aftershocks of up to magnitude 5.6 rattled the area, state broadcaster NHK and a Niigata official said.

Troops and extra emergency teams were being sent to help with rescue and relief efforts, while Prime Minister Shinzo Abe cut short campaigning for parliamentary elections to inspect the area.

NUCLEAR PLANT FIRE A fire in an electrical transformer at the Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power plant - the world's largest - was quickly extinguished but it was unclear when Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) could restart three power units there, said Yoshinobu Kamijima, a company spokesman.

Abe's government set up an emergency office to deal with the quake, which officials said had damaged 350 buildings.

''People tell me they want to get back to their usual lives as soon as possible,'' Abe said after arriving by helicopter in Kashiwazaki. ''We'll make every effort towards rescue and also to restore services such as gas and electricity.'' Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries, with a tremor occurring at least every five minutes.

The 10:13 am (0643 IST) quake was centred around 60 km southwest of Niigata. Monday was a holiday in Japan and financial markets were closed.

WATER CUT, TRAINS HALTED Bullet trains stopped services in northern Japan after the quake, and again after the largest aftershock, delaying travellers. A local train toppled from the rails, but media said no one was injured.

Landslides closed several local roads, and rain was forecast in the area for the next two days, raising worries about more slippage.

Residents were worried about the lack of water, which was affecting the evacuation centres, as well as aftershocks.

''We have a water tank for two days, but the city called to say they don't know when water will be running again,'' said Reiko Nakao, who works at a hotel in Kariwa village.

Tsunami warning sirens sounded along affected stretches of the Sea of Japan, but the alert was later withdrawn.

Niigata was hit in October 2004 by a quake with a matching magnitude of 6.8 that killed 65 people and injured more than 3,000.

That was the deadliest quake in Japan since a magnitude 7.3 tremor hit Kobe city in 1995, killing more than 6,400.

Sanyo Electric Co. spokesman Akihiko Oiwa said operations had been halted at a semiconductor factory in Niigata, one of the company's largest, but there had been no reports of damage.

REUTERS KK RAI1840