A temple is ruined by an earthquake in Ishikawa of Japan on March 25, 2007. (Xinhua/Kyodo Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    TOKYO, March 25 (Xinhua) -- A strong earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale rocked the Hokuriku region in central Japan on Sunday morning, killing one person and injuring at least 160 others.

    The 9:42 a.m. (0042 GMT) quake, which mainly hit Ishikawa, Toyama and Niigata prefectures, also caused minor tidal waves of up to 20 centimeters. The quake destroyed some 40 houses and damaged another 200, Kyodo News said.

    Its epicenter was about 30 kilometers southwest of Wajima city,Ishikawa, in the sea off Noto Peninsula and about 11 km underground, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

    A 52-year-old woman in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, died after being buried under a stone lantern that collapsed in her garden, local police was quoted as saying.

    Over 130 aftershocks were registered by Sunday night in the areas affected by the quake, most of them lower than magnitude of 4, the agency said.

    Among the aftershocks by now, a strong one reached the magnitude of 5.3. It jolted the Wajima city of Ishikawa prefectureat 6:11 p.m. (0911 GMT). The quake could also be felt in prefectures of Niigata, Toyama, Gifu and others. No tsunami warning was issued as to the aftershocks by now.

    The agency said that the intensity of aftershocks in the week to come could reach up to upper 5 on the Japanese seismic scale of7. The quake on Sunday morning registered upper 6. The weather service said that it plans to announce on Monday the likely scale and probability of major aftershocks.

    Of the injured people, most were in the cities of Wajima and Nanao in Ishikawa prefecture. About 1,800 people in Wajima were evacuated to shelters. Power failures temporarily affected around 160,000 households in Ishikawa and Toyama prefectures, while water supplies were cut to around 9,500 households in Wajima and Noto in Ishikawa.

    Noto airport was closed as more than 20 cracks were found on its runway and taxiway, one of them nearly 100 meters long, Kyodo said. All Nippon Airways Co. said the airline has suspended its flights between Tokyo's Haneda and Ishikawa's Noto airports.

    West Japan Railway Co. said all JR train services have been suspended in Ishikawa and Toyama prefectures. There were no train derailments and no injuries to passengers, it said. Operations at nuclear power plants in Niigata and Fukui prefectures were not affected, Tokyo Electric Power Co. and Kansai Electric Power Co. said.

    Some 400 members of police from nearby prefectures have been dispatched to the quake-hit area, while around 30 troops from Ground Self-Defense Force have arrived to gather information on the disaster. Helicopters and aircraft of the Self-Defense Forces have also conducted surveillance, the report said.