A 6.8-magnitude quake centered in Ojiya, Niigata Prefecture, rocked the area just before 6 p.m. Oct. 23, knocking a bullet train from its rails, ripping through roadways and rattling buildings as far away as Tokyo. Several strong quakes followed through the night, and aftershocks continued to jolt the area.

The quake was the worst to hit Japan since 1995, when more than 6,000 people were killed by a 7.2-magnitude temblor in and around the port city of Kobe.

Experts said that the Oct. 23 quake, named the "Niigata-ken Chuetsu Earthquake" by the Meteorological Agency in recognition of its significant devastation, occurred in a "seismic gap" -- the part of an active fault that had experienced little or no seismic activity for a long period, causing stress to build up and making an earthquake more likely.

The area near the epicenter had not suffered a quake resulting in fatalities since 1828, when more than 1,400 people were killed or left missing and 11,000 buildings were destroyed, media said.

The earthquake hit as the country was reeling from the onslaught Oct. 20 of the deadliest typhoon in a quarter century, Tokage, which killed at least 83 people.

The Japan Times Weekly: Oct. 30, 2004
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