TEMPO.CO, Tokyo - A magnitude 6.1 earthquake in Osaka, Japan`s second-biggest metropolis, killed four people, injured hundreds more and halted factory lines in an industrial area, government and company officials said on Tuesday, June 19.
Authorities were assessing the damage from Monday's quake which injured 380 people, according to the latest government estimate on Tuesday.
Live footage showed toppled walls, broken windows and water gushing from burst mains after the quake hit Osaka, which will host next year's Group of 20summit, on Monday morning, June 18.
Quakes are common in Japan, part of the seismically active "Ring of Fire" that stretches from the South Pacific through Indonesia andJapan, across to Alaska and down the west coast of North, Central and South America.
Read: Magnitude 6.1 Earthquake Hits Japan
Collapsing walls killed a 9-year-old girl as she walked to school and an 80-year-old man, the government said.
An 85-year-old man died when a bookcase fell on him and an 81-year-old woman was found dead under a toppled dresser.
The quake struck a key industrial area of central Japan.
Trade minister Hiroshige Seko said on Tuesday the quake had forced factories to halt operations but there was no information on the damage to facilities.
"We will closely monitor the impacts, including on supply chains," Seko told reporters.
Osaka-based electronics firm Panasonic Corp said it resumed some operations at three of its plants.
Daihatsu Motor Co, a unit of Toyota Motor Corp, stopped day-time operations in its factories in Osaka and Kyoto and at one plant in Shiga while the company checked for damage.
Tractor maker Kubota Corp. said it halted two plants in the area, while air conditioner maker Daikin Industries Ltd suspended operations at two plants, one of which had restarted.
Honda Motor Co. and Mitsubishi Motors said they were resuming operations after suspensions and safety checks. Sharp Corp also restarted work at a joint venture plant with parent Hon Hai Precision Industry that it had stopped for safety checks.
Japan's JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy Corp is likely to take about a week to resume normal refining operations at its 115,000 barrels-per-day Osaka refinery that was shut down following the quake, the trade ministry said.
REUTERS
