Aomori - A powerful earthquake with a maximum seismic intensity of upper 6 struck off Iwate Prefecture at around 7:30 a.m. on June 25, shaking parts of Aomori Prefecture and leaving Hachinohe, which was hit by a similarly strong quake last December, facing fresh damage.
"The shaking is lasting a long time," one person said as the tremor continued.
Hachinohe recorded a seismic intensity of lower 6 in the latest quake. In the earthquake that struck last December, the city registered an intensity of upper 6, causing extensive damage, including large sections of hotel walls peeling away and televisions in guest rooms breaking under the force of the shaking.
The city was struck by violent tremors again on June 25. In one area, the lower part of a building’s exterior wall had fallen away, leaving a large amount of white debris on the ground. Around the fourth floor, part of the outer wall had collapsed, exposing steel framing inside. Another building had also lost sections of its exterior wall, while a drainpipe behind it had snapped midway and was hanging down toward the ground.
At a supermarket in Hachinohe, security footage showed small tremors continuing for a short time before a sudden, powerful jolt hit the store. Products fell one after another from shelves and scattered across the aisles.
When the store was visited later, a notice had been posted on the window saying it would be closed for the day because of the earthquake.
A sushi restaurant that has been in business for more than 50 years also suffered damage. "Plates, glasses and bottles of alcohol all fell," said Noritaka Hashimoto of Hikari Sushi. "As for plates alone, about 30 were broken."
According to the Aomori Prefectural Government, as of 2 p.m. on June 25, nine people had been injured in the prefecture, while 116 cases of building damage, including damage to homes, had been confirmed.
The Japan Meteorological Agency did not issue its Hokkaido and Sanriku Offshore Subsequent Earthquake Advisory, which calls for caution against a possible large follow-up quake, in connection with the latest tremor. However, Ayaki Ebita, head of the agency’s Earthquake and Tsunami Monitoring Division, urged caution. "For about the next week, and especially over the next two days, please be on alert for earthquakes with a maximum seismic intensity of around upper 6," Ebita said.
Source: TBS
