TOKYO, March 21 (Xinhuanet) -- A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 struck southwest Japan's Kyushu region on Sunday morning, leaving a woman dead and about 500 people injured, with five of them in critical condition, mostly in Fukuoka Prefecture.
The 10:53 a.m. (0153 GMT) quake, which registered a maximum intensity of
lower six on the Japanese seismic scale of seven in Fukuoka Prefecture and
southern Saga Prefecture, also damaged manyhouses and paralyzed land traffic and
utilities.
The first-ever magnitude 7.0 quake in the region was felt as far away as
eastern Japan and was followed by a series of minor aftershocks.
In the city of Fukuoka, a 75 old woman was trapped underneath acollapsed
wall near her home and died after being taken to a hospital, the National Police
Agency said.
A Kyodo News tally showed about 490 people have so far receivedtreatment
for injuries at hospitals in Fukuoka and more than 10 people in Saga and
Nagasaki prefectures.
Five people, including two women aged 56 and 83, are unconscious and in
critical condition, while about 15 people have serious injuries, such as bone
fractures, Kyodo said.
The prime minister's office set up a task force at its crisis management
center at 11:00 a.m. and a team headed by Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary for
Crisis Management Takeshi Noda has gathered information on the quake.
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told Chief Cabinet Secretary
Hiroyuki Hosoda to be "fully devoted to" quake matters.
The National Police Agency also established a task force to deal with the
disaster and dispatched a 160-member emergency aid team from prefectural police
departments in western Japan to the affected areas in Fukuoka and Saga
prefectures.
The Fire and Disaster Management Agency and the Japan Meteorological Agency
also sent officials to the quake-hit areas for relief operations and scientific
probes.
The Japan Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami warning for the Sea of
Japan coastal area of Fukuoka Prefecture and Nagasaki Prefecture, saying waves
of up to 50 centimeters might hit. But the agency lifted the alert later as no
tsunamis were detected.
The focus of the earthquake was 9 km below sea level in the Seaof Japan
some 40 km northwest of coastal area in Fukuoka.
The agency said 85 aftershocks were recorded as of midnight Sunday and that
an aftershock with a maximum magnitude of six is possible.
Kyushu Railway Co. stopped all train operations in Kyushu area following
the quake, but resumed services shortly after 6:00 p.m. (0900 GMT)
West Japan Railway Co. suspended bullet train services in Fukuoka
Prefecture but resumed operations at 3:46 p.m. (0646 GMT).The Fukuoka subway
system also suspended services for hours.
Fukuoka airport briefly closed its runway for inspection, but no damage was
found, Japan Airlines officials said. Nagasaki airport was also closed for a
short time. Saga airport was not affected by the quake.
Expressways in the quake-hit area were closed for motor trafficfollowing
the quake but were reopened at 4:30 p.m. (0730 GMT), Japan Highway Public Corp.
said.
Moreover, power outages in about 2,600 households, 140 gas leakcases and
telephone-service restriction were reported in the area.
The quake was the strongest to hit Kyushu region since May 1997and the first one measuring more than magnitude 6 since 1898, the meteorological agency said, adding it issued a tsunami warning forKyushu for the first time since December 1996. Enditem | 
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