JAPAN: All ATM machines of Mizuho Banks stop operation temporarily throughout the country as nuclear fears mount

Record ID: 465391

  • Title: JAPAN: All ATM machines of Mizuho Banks stop operation temporarily throughout the country as nuclear fears mount
  • Date: 18th March 2011
  • Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (MARCH 17, 2011) (REUTERS) AKASAKA MITSUKE BRANCH OF MIZUHO BANK MIZUHO PERSONNEL OUTSIDE GREETING CUSTOMERS AND APOLOGISING FOR ATM'S BEING DOWN MORE OF CUSTOMERS ASKING MIZUHO STAFF QUESTIONS SIGN OF MIZUHO BANK (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) 42-YEAR OLD TOKYO RESIDENT HIROMI SUGITA SAYING: "This taught me a lesson that I have to have at least some amount of cash about with me." MORE OF BANK (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) 51-YEAR OLD TOKYO RESIDENT AKITOSHI ISHII SAYING: "I'm not particularly surprised considering what's happening with this earthquake and it's probably best to stay put. I have some cash anyway and still can use my bank books so I hope to come back here when things calm down." MORE OF BANK FRONT AND BANK STAFF APOLOGISING
  • Embargoed: 2nd April 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan, Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
  • Reuters ID: LVAD1RZWQG03UVARGA4LATD0GWRX
  • Story Text: Automated teller machines (ATM) of Japan's Mizuho Bank, one of the country's biggest, stopped working for a few hours on Thursday (March 17) as the country struggled to contain a nuclear emergency in the wake of a massive earthquake and tsunami that has left more than 10,000 dead.
    Mizuho Bank did not give a reason for the outage, but outside one of its branches in central Tokyo, bank employees were apologising to customers who meant to withdraw money.
    "This taught me a lesson that I have to have at least some amount of cash about with me," said Tokyo resident Hiromi Sugita, 42.
    The Japanese capital has been on tenterhooks since the weekend when reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima prefecture started emitting smoke and catching fire following a massive earthquake and a tsunami that has washed away parts of northeastern Japan, killing at least 10,000.
    The streets of Tokyo are nearly empty as nuclear fears weigh heavily on citizens, amid power cuts and shortages in fuel supplies in the aftermath of the earthquake which damaged power plants.
    But some customers took the ATM closure in stride.
    "I'm not particularly surprised considering what's happening with this earthquake and it's probably best to stay put. I have some cash anyway and still can use my bank books so I hope to come back here when things calm down," said Akitoshi Ishii, 51.
    Mizuho Bank has over 11,000 ATMs across all prefectures in Japan, and it serves more than 26 million Japanese households.
    ATM machines of major Japanese banks stopped working following the massive earthquake on Friday (March 11).
    The Tokyo Stock Exchange also experienced some line malfunctions.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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