Aftershock raises anxiety in Japan

Associated Press

ICHINOSEKI, Japan

Shoppers emptied store shelves, traffic snarled after stoplights lost power, and drivers waited in long lines to buy gasoline in a new wave of anxiety Friday after a magnitude-7.1 aftershock struck disaster-weary northeastern Japan.

Nearly a half-million homes were without electricity after the latest tremor, which dealt another setback for those struggling to recover from the earthquake-spawned tsunami that wiped out hundreds of miles of the northeastern coast last month and killed as many as 25,000 people.

“I feel helpless. I am back to square one,” said Ryoichi Kubo, 52, who had just finally reopened his gas station in hard-hit Iwate prefecture after the power outage and prolonged fuel shortage that followed the March 11 tsunami. Friday, he was again without electricity, his four gas pumps shut down.

Three people died in Thursday’s aftershock, the worst since the day of the massive magnitude-9.0 quake. The latest tremor largely spared the nation’s nuclear power plants, and there was no sign of fresh problems at the troubled Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, which has been spewing radiation since it was swamped by the tsunami.

Power remained out Friday across much of northern Japan, including areas far inland, and homes were without gas and water. Gasoline was again scarce.

Convenience stores sold out of basics such as water and snack foods, and supermarkets switched back to rationing purchases.

About 450,000 households were still without electricity Friday evening, said Souta Nozu, a spokesman for Tohoku Electric Power Co., which serves northern Japan. That includes homes in prefectures that had been spared in the first quake.