M6.4 Quake Jolts Shizuoka, Vicinity

TOKYO (Kyodo)--A strong earthquakewith a magnitude of 6.4 jolted Shizuoka Prefecture and its vicinity, including Tokyo, on Tuesday evening, at a time when Japan is struggling to tackle the aftermath of the catastrophic quake in the country's northeast last week. The 10:31 p.m. quake registered upper 6 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 in the eastern part of Shizuoka in central Japan, and upper 5 in the eastern part of neighboring Yamanashi Prefecture, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. No tsunami warning was issued and no major damage to the Hamaoka nuclear plant in Omaezaki, Shizuoka Prefecture, or to Shizuoka airport was reported, according to Chubu Electric Power Co. and local police. Tokyo Electric Power Co. said its power stations are continuing to operate following the quake. However, the Tokaido Shinkansen Line bullet train service was temporarily suspended between Shinagawa and Hamamatsu stations,while some sections of the Tomei and Chuo expressways were closed following the quake. At the city hall in Mishima, Shizuoka Prefecture, sections of the ceilings onthe first and second floors fell, but noone was injured, according to the municipal government, while a blackout affecting around 22,000 households occurred in Fujinomiya inthe prefecture, local police said. A fire was reported at a hotel in Fujinomiya but it was extinguished shortly, the local fire department said. A 34-year-old man in Gotemba, Shizuoka, and 63-year-old woman in Hadano, Kanagawa Prefecture, sustained injuries, according to local authorities. The meteorological agency said the focus of the quake was in the eastern part of Shizuoka at a depth of 14 kilometers. The agency initiallyestimated the quake's magnitude at 6.0 but later revised it upward to 6.4. The quake was not related to the massive Tokai earthquakes that occur regularly every 100 to 150 years in the Tokai region of central Japan, the agency said.