JAPAN: Local residents deal with Japan quake aftermath

Record ID: 461756

  • Title: JAPAN: Local residents deal with Japan quake aftermath
  • Date: 13th August 2009
  • Summary: YAIZU, SHIZUOKA PREFECTURE, JAPAN (AUGUST 11, 2009) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BROKEN ROOFS MAN FIXING ROOFS TM BROKEN ROOF TILES MAKINOHARA, SHIZUOKA PREFECTURE, JAPAN (AUGUST 11, 2009) (REUTERS) DAMAGED HOUSE AND STREET LOCAL RESIDENT HIDEKI MURAMATSU ENTERING HIS HOUSE BROKEN AIR CONDITIONER VENTILATION IN LIVING ROOM CHEST OF DRAWERS FALLEN ON BED PIECES OF BROKEN GLASS IN MURAMATSU'S BED ROOM (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) HIDEKI MURAMATSU, 68, LOCAL RESIDENT, SAYING: "Normally, I don't wake up that early. But today, I woke up because my wife was screaming and the next thing I saw was the chests of drawers falling all over me. FALLEN PLASTIC CASES IN CLOSET (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) YURIYO MURAMATSU, 62, LOCAL RESIDENT, SAYING: "Even this piano moved and everything that was on it fell over. So we had to push it back to where it was." YAIZU, SHIZUOKA PREFECTURE, JAPAN (AUGUST 11, 2009) (REUTERS) LOCAL HOUSES DAMAGED ROOF
  • Embargoed: 28th August 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
  • Reuters ID: LVA6KFCYCH59II1ZS193T034UWFJ
  • Story Text: Residents deal with the aftermath of a 6.5 magnitude quake that rattled southeastern Japan.
    Although the magnitude 6.5 quake that rattled southeastern Japan on Tuesday (August 11) claimed no casualties, it damaged nearly 1,500 homes and local residents are dealing with the aftermath.
    In Shizuoka Prefecture, hundreds of houses lost part of their roof tiles as they fell on to the ground when the strong tremor jolted the area early in the morning.
    It almost toppled everything inside the home of local resident Hideki Muramatsu, including chests of drawers that fell over his bed when he was sleeping.
    "Normally, I don't wake up that early. But today, I woke up because my wife was screaming and the next thing I saw was the chests of drawers falling all over me," said the 68-year-old convenience store owner.
    Luckily, Muramatsu was unscathed - except for some minor scratches on his back.
    He and his wife Yuriyo Muramoto, 62, said they had never experienced shaking like that and it toppled almost everything in their house.
    "Even this piano moved and everything that was on it fell over. So we had to push it back to where it was," said the wife.
    The magnitude 6.5 quake centered around 150 kilometres (90 miles) southwest of Tokyo and damaged the main motorway south from the capital and prompted a brief suspension of high-speed train services, but there were no reports of major casualties.
    Local media said more than 100 people suffered injuries, most of them minor, from the 5:07 a.m. (2007 GMT, Monday) tremor.
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