Strong aftershock rattles Japan

Associated Press

SENDAI, Japan

A strong aftershock ripped through northeastern Japan on Thursday, killing two, injuring more than 130 and piling misery on a region still buried under the rubble of last month’s devastating tsunami.

The quake initially was measured at magnitude- 7.4, though the U.S. Geological Survey in Golden, Col., later downgraded it to 7.1.

Either way, it was the strongest aftershock since several were recorded March 11 — the day of the magnitude-9.0 earthquake and tsunami that killed as many as 25,000 people and touched off a nuclear crisis last month.

There were no immediate reports of serious injuries or major damage, and the operator of the tsunami-ravaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant said there was no sign the aftershock had caused new problems there. Workers retreated to a quake- resistant shelter in the complex, with no injuries.

The aftershock was strong enough to knock items off store shelves and move a large automated teller machine at a FamilyMart convenience store in the major northern industrial center of Sendai.

The city is far enough inland that it avoided major tsunami damage, but people there were without gas and electricity for weeks.

Manager Takehiko Akagi said 100 people had showed up within an hour of Thursday’s aftershock and cleared the shelves of ice, water and instant noodles — items that were in short supply after the bigger quake.

Japan’s nuclear-safety agency said nuclear facilities along the northeastern coast were under control after backup generators kicked in at two — Rokkasho and Higashidori — that lost power.