A strong earthquake flattened houses in northwestern Japan on Monday, 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 as Tokyo, and nuclear power reactors in Niigata prefecture automatically shutdown 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 (155 miles) 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 centered in the same northwestern area as a tremor three years ago that killed some 65 people.

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 centers 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.

Fire in nuclear plant
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.

The government has 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,” said Abe.

Japan is one of the world’s most earthquake-prone countries, with a tremor occurring at least every five minutes.
The 10.13 am (0113 GMT) quake was centered around 60 km (37 miles) southwest of Niigata. Monday was a holiday in Japan and financial markets were closed.