Strong earthquake strikes central Japan
TOKYO – A strong earthquake late Saturday struck a mountainous area of central Japan that hosted the 1998 Winter Olympics, knocking down at least 10 homes in a ski resort town and injuring more than 20 people, officials said.
The magnitude-6.8 earthquake struck near Nagano city at a depth of 6 miles, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. The U.S. Geological Survey measured the quake’s magnitude at 6.2. Since the quake occurred inland, there was no possibility of a tsunami.
Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority said no abnormalities were reported at three nuclear power plants in the affected areas. All of Japan’s nuclear plants are offline after a magnitude-9.0 earthquake and massive tsunami in 2011 that sent three reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant into meltdown. Fukushima is about 155 miles northeast of where Saturday’s earthquake occurred.
At least 22 people were injured, three of them seriously, in Nagano city, the Hakuba ski resort and elsewhere, the National Police Agency told Japan’s Kyodo news agency.
Mexico confirms U.S. agent wounded in July
MEXICO CITY – The Mexican navy confirmed on Saturday that a U.S. marshal was wounded in Mexico while working with naval personnel in the northwestern state of Sinaloa during the summer.
But the navy denied a report in the Wall Street Journal that the marshal and other U.S. officers were dressed as Mexican marines while participating in an operation against organized crime. It said the marshal was only training Mexican naval personnel and wasn’t wearing a Mexican uniform.
The navy’s statement confirmed the American was wounded on July 11, as reported in the Journal, but the navy gave no information on how the officer was wounded.
According to the Journal story, agents from several U.S. law-enforcement agencies joined in an operation aimed at capturing a drug dealer linked to the Beltran Leyva cartel and one of the Americans was wounded when the team was ambushed.
The navy’s statement said no official from the United States or any other country has “participated in Mexican navy tactical field operations against organized crime using Mexican uniforms and weaponry.”
Under Mexican law, foreign officers cannot carry arms, and officials are sensitive about any foreign participation in law-enforcement operations.
Strong quake in China kills at least 1
BEIJING – A strong earthquake struck a lightly populated, mountainous area of western China on Saturday, killing at least one person and causing minor damage to buildings, officials and state media said.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude-5.9 quake had a depth of 9 miles. It struck in the late afternoon about 20 miles from the town of Kangding in Sichuan province. China’s seismological agency gave the magnitude as 6.3.
A woman in her 70s died after being struck by a falling window pane, the official Xinhua News Agency and state broadcaster CCTV said.
A duty officer at the Kangding county government, who gave his surname as Xia, said the quake lasted only a few seconds, and that there had been some reports of cracks in buildings and toppled walls. The area is frequently struck by earthquakes, and Xia said newly constructed buildings in the town of Kangding must be able to withstand those of up to 8 in magnitude, although requirements are less strict in the surrounding rural area.
Associated Press
