Two earthquakes struck Japan today, damaging a nuclear reactor, toppling houses and causing a fire. Seven people were killed and more than 800 were injured by the first quake, NHK television reported on its Web site.
A second magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck in the Sea of Japan 457 kilometers (284 miles) northwest of Tokyo at 11:17 p.m. local time, the U.S. Geological Survey reported on its Web site. The earlier quake, around 250 kilometers northwest of Tokyo, had triggered tsunami warnings and caused buildings to sway for several minutes around 10:15 a.m.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. said that a nuclear reactor at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa power plant in Niigata was damaged by the first quake. Two cracks opened in its reactor No. 6, causing radioactive water to leak into the ocean, the company said on its Web site. The leaked water had no effect on the environment, according to the power company.
NHK showed images of houses with collapsed roofs, cracked highways and a train carriage derailed at a station in the coastal city of Kashiwazaki. Other nuclear reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant were automatically shut down when the tremors began, Tokyo Electric said (Jeff Rense)
