Courtsy: JAPAN TODAY

KASHIWAZAKI — An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 rocked a wide area centering on Niigata Prefecture on Monday morning, killing nine elderly people, injuring more than 900 people while causing a blaze at a nuclear plant, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency and a Kyodo News tally.

The 10:13 a.m. quake caused minor tsunamis measuring up to 20 centimeters, disrupted public transportation and destroyed 780 houses, leading about 10,000 people in Niigata to evacuate. It also resulted in widespread power failures and cuts in water supplies, as strong aftershocks continued in the area.

Four of the seven nuclear reactors at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power station, the world’s largest nuclear power plant in terms of power output capacity, were operating or set to commence operation at the time of the earthquake and automatically shut down after sensing the strong quake.

But an electric transformer outside one of the reactors caught fire shortly after the quake. The fire was extinguished about two hours later. No radioactive leak has been detected. It was the first fire at a nuclear plant to be caused by a quake and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is checking the cause, METI officials said.

TEPCO announced later in the day that water containing radioactive material leaked from one of three reactors that had suspended operations for regular checks and some of the water was released into the nearby Sea of Japan. But the level of the radioactive material in the water was below the legal standard, the utility company said.

Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Akira Amari early Tuesday told TEPCO President Tsunehisa Katsumata not to resume operations of the company’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant until safety is ensured following a deadly earthquake the previous day.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was stumping in Nagasaki City for the July 29 House of Councillors election when the quake occurred, returned to Tokyo and immediately flew to badly-hit Kashiwazaki, some 200 kilometers northwest of Tokyo.

“I would like to make every possible effort to restore lifelines such as roads, gas and water, because the victims are in a tough situation,” Abe told reporters at the Kashiwazaki city government building after inspecting the area. The government had earlier set up an emergency task force at the premier’s office in Tokyo to deal with the situation and a government investigation team, led by Kensei Mizote, state minister for disaster management, also inspected the quake-hit area.

After returning to Tokyo, Abe told a meeting of concerned ministers that they must ensure that essential services in the quake-hit areas are restored and take every possible measure to alleviate the concerns of local people. The quake measured upper 6 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 in Kashiwazaki and Kariwa in Niigata and Iizuna in Nagano Prefecture, lower 6 in Joetsu and Ojiya in Niigata, and upper 5 in Iiyama in Nagano.

The last earthquake to hit Japan measuring upper 6 on the Japanese intensity scale was one that struck Ishikawa, Toyama and Niigata prefectures in March, killing one person and leaving more than 300 injured. A total of more than 70 aftershocks had rattled Niigata Prefecture and its vicinity by 9 p.m., with a quake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.6 hitting the area at 3:37 p.m. The afternoon quake measured lower 6 on the Japanese intensity scale in several parts of Niigata, according to the agency.

The focus of the initial quake was located around 60 km southwest of the city of Niigata, about 17 km under the seabed, the agency said. An aftershock with an intensity of upper 5 or lower 6 at the most could occur within the week, agency official Koichi Uhira told a press conference.

He also warned that some parts of Niigata Prefecture and northern Nagano Prefecture might see rain that could lead to landslides. The people who died in the quake were Etsuko Nakamura, 81, Noriko Nakamura, 78, Sansaku Takahashi, 83, Toshio Tobita, 82, Hajime Motoi, 77, Masako Iino, 71, and a couple — Katsuichi Shimojo, 76, and his wife Yasuko, 72 — all in Kashiwazaki, as well as Kiyo Igarashi, 79, in the village of Kariwa.

Most of them died after being buried under flattened houses, government officials said. One man was still missing in Niigata, they added. About 100 evacuation centers were set up in Niigata Prefecture. Most offices and schools were closed Monday as it was a national holiday.

A woman operating a Japanese-style inn in Kashiwazaki said, “The quake was so fierce, I felt I couldn’t stand up.” She said her home was in a mess, with broken plates and an overturned television.

Standing in front of a collapsed two-story wooden house, Seigo Makino, 70, said, “In the earthquake three years ago, things just fell down, but this time, the house itself is ruined…I can’t think about anything now. I’ve got to find somewhere to live.”

Niigata Prefecture was hit by a magnitude 6.8 quake on Oct. 23, 2004, which killed 67 people and injured more than 4,800. A 69-year-old milk shop operator said that he has to keep his shoes on in his house because of broken glass and that people in his neighborhood are sitting on the road on straw mats because their houses have been flattened.

In Kashiwazaki, three people were buried under a collapsed apartment building but were rescued later. East Japan Railway Co. temporary halted train services on the Tohoku, Joetsu and Nagano Shinkansen lines. Derailments occurred to local and freight trains, but no one sustained injuries.

Some sections of expressways were closed for checks, while more than 20 cracks and ruptures were detected on the Hokuriku Expressway. Landslides have also hit sections of many roads in Niigata Prefecture. Niigata airport temporarily closed its runways immediately after the quake to check for damage, airport officials said.

The quake also caused power failures affecting up to around 35,000 homes in Niigata Prefecture and 21,000 homes in Nagano Prefecture. More than 60,000 homes in Niigata and Nagano prefectures were affected by disruptions to water supplies, Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry officials said.

As gas pipes were ruptured in many areas in Kashiwazaki, the city government suspended supplying gas to the urban area. Some 60 elementary, junior and senior high schools in Niigata Prefecture will be closed Tuesday due to the quake.

About 450 Ground Self-Defense Force personnel were dispatched to the area and the Maritime Self-Defense Force will use a transport vessel to deliver 15,000 emergency rations and 2,100 blankets to victims by Tuesday evening. The agency initially put the quake’s magnitude at 6.6 but later revised it to 6.8. The quake also shook the Kanto region centering on Tokyo.