Big Earthquake ping.
About 4 in a row.
I am sure you have the site if not look up a couple of posts for a link.
Ronin a Freeper is there right now.
Strategerist, thanks for posting this.
Ronin stay safe and prayers sent up for the safety of you, your friends, family and co-workers.
23 October 2004
Powerful earthquakes jolted central and eastern Japan Saturday evening, killing one person, injuring more than 100 others, destroying a number of buildings and causing a bullet train to derail in Niigata Prefecture, government and police officials said.
The initial temblor that struck at 5:56 p.m. registered upper 6 on the 7-point Japanese scale in Ojiya, Niigata Prefecture, followed by aftershocks of the same scale, the Meteorological Agency said. It warned of further powerful aftershocks.
In Tokamachi, Niigata Prefecture, a man in his 30s died after being buried under the rubble of a wall that collapsed at a restaurant. Some 50 to 60 injured people have been admitted to Niigata Prefectural Tokamachi Hospital, local government officials.
In Ojiya, a house collapsed and a landslide triggered by the quake buried a number of cars. About 30 injured people were rushed to a local hospital. Police officers are on their way to the landslide scene to rescue people trapped in a car while trying to confirm if anybody in the collapsed house was injured.
Ojiya Municipal Government officials cannot immediately confirm the extent of damage because many roads in the town have been damaged, according to national government officials.
In Nagaoka, a fire broke out at three houses, municipal government officials said. One of the fires has already been extinguished. The local fire department dispatched ambulances to 20 locations to transport residents injured in the quake.
Two coaches of a 10-car-long bullet train, Toki No. 325 superexpress that left Tokyo for Niigata, derailed between Urasa and Naganoka station on the Joetsu Shinkansen Line and is at a standstill, its operator, East Japan Railway Co. (JR East), said. However, the train did not topple over and nobody was injured in the accident.
Services on the line have been suspended between Niigata and Omiya in Saitama Prefecture, according to JR East. Its local lines in Niigata Prefecture have also been suspended.
All the expressways in Niigata Prefecture have been closed. Electric power supply has been completely suspended to some 250,000 households in extensive areas of Niigata Prefecture, including Ojiya and Kashiwazaki.
At 6 p.m., the government established a disaster task force at the prime minister's official residence.
The earthquake that struck at 5:56 p.m. registered upper 6 on the Japanese intensity scale in Ojiya. It also measured lower 6 in Nagaoka and Nakasato in Niigata Prefecture, and upper 5 in Muikamachi, Yoita and other areas, and 4 in wide areas including southern Miyagi Prefecture and Tokyo's 23 wards.
The focus of the quake, which is estimated at 6.8 on the open-ended Richter scale, was located about 20 kilometers below the ground in central Niigata Prefecture.
The temblor was followed by aftershocks, three of which registered upper 6 in some areas of Niigata Prefecture. (Compiled from Mainichi and wire reports, Japan, Oct. 23, 2004)