OSAKA -- City functions were crippled Monday by the powerful earthquake that struck Osaka Prefecture during the morning rush hour.
Measuring a lower 6 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7, with its epicenter in the northern part of the prefecture, the earthquake caused the suspension of public transportation services all over the Kinki region. Commuters were stranded at stations and elsewhere.
A 9-year-old girl died in Takatsuki, Osaka Prefecture, and two men in their 80s were killed in Higashiyodogawa Ward, Osaka city, and Ibaraki in the prefecture. Many people were reportedly injured.
At JR Osaka Station, the platforms were closed to commuters and others, causing the station building to be packed with people. A 37-year-old man from Toyonaka who was sitting down at the station said he was on the way to his company on a Hankyu train when the earthquake occurred. He was stranded in the train for about 30 minutes and then walked to Osaka Station.
The man said he felt a strong jolt while standing in the train, which made an emergency stop. He almost fell down and other passengers were thrown into confusion.
The train stopped by chance at a station, but passengers were not allowed to disembark onto the platform for about 30 minutes until it was confirmed to be safe. The man said no one around him suffered an injury, but some felt unwell, laid down and were taken care of by other passengers.
"I felt relieved to know my wife at home was fine," he said. "But I'm worried about my company. I have no choice but to walk to the company. I don't know what to do."
A man in his 50s who was standing near Osaka Station said he felt a strong quake as soon as he got on the train at nearby Umeda Station of Hanshin Electric Railway Co. "I thought there might be aftershocks, so I came above ground. I telephoned my company, but it seems most of the employees were unable to get to the office," he said.
A JR train also stopped in Ibaraki. Passengers were told to disembark and walked to a nearby station.
"At first I thought it was an accident because the train abruptly stopped after a strong jolt," said a 23-year-old company employee from Nishinari Ward, Osaka. "The air-conditioning stopped due to power failure. Passengers opened windows and responded calmly to the situation."
A 54-year-old company employee said: "An emergency earthquake alert went off on my cell phone. Right after that, the Shinkansen train stopped." He was riding the Nozomi No. 1, which had departed Tokyo for Hakata. The bullet train made an emergency stop in Yasu, Shiga Prefecture.
"I didn't feel a jolt, but phone services were disrupted and I didn't know what was going on. I canceled a planned meeting in Okayama, but I don't know whether my colleagues are safe. I'm concerned about whether they were hurt," the man said.
National treasures damaged
The strong quake damaged national treasures and cultural assets, according to the Kyoto and Nara prefectural governments and other organizations.
The Taian teahouse, a national treasure in Oyamazaki, Kyoto Prefecture, suffered a crack of about 2 meters in a wall. Taian is the only surviving tearoom designed by 16th-century tea master Sen no Rikyu.
In Kyoto Prefecture, six municipalities such as Nagaokakyo registered an upper 5 on the Japanese scale of 7.
There was also damage to Chochikukyo, a leading example of modernist architecture in the early Showa era (1926-1989) in the same town. Two sheets of glass were smashed in the sunroom of this important cultural asset, and there were several cracks in the walls. Parts of the walls also collapsed.
About 20 tiles reportedly fell from the walls of Nishihonganji temple in Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto. No injuries were reported.
At Iwashimizu Hachimangu shrine in Yawata, about 40 stone lanterns collapsed on its premises.
At Todaiji temple in Nara, an ornamental wooden pagoda about 20 centimeters high on the right hand of Tamonten, a Buddhist statue, fell in the quake. No damage was confirmed to the pagoda.
Tamonten is one of the Four Devas placed on the temple's Kaidanin commandment altar.
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