Gainesville man 'rocking and rolling' as quakes hit Japan

GAINESVILLE - A Gainesville man, who is on business in Tokyo, says his room was "rocking and rolling" as two strong earthquakes struck Japan Sunday.

Mike Wolcott, who works for Scientific-Atlanta, says one tremor registered 6.9 on the Richter Scale and when it reached Tokyo, it was equivalent to a 4.5. Wolcott says the epicenter was about 230 miles from Tokyo.

"The buildings will shake noticably," Wolcott said. "If you are asleep, it feels like you've got four or five people trying to wake you up."

But, he says, over the years, on frequent business trips to Japan, he's "pretty much" become used to the frequent quakes that hit the island country, by some counts, one every five minutes, although most of them cannot even be felt.

"But, it'll still get your attention."

The two offshore quakes Sunday -- the first with a magnitude of 6.9 followed by a 7.3-magnitude temblor five hours later -- were felt most strongly in sparsely populated areas in southwestern Wakayama state.

They also shook the major cities of Osaka, Kyoto and Nagoya, and caused buildings to sway in Tokyo.

The National Police Agency said 38 people were hurt, including three people with broken bones. Most were injured in the second, more powerful quake.

Aftershocks continued to rattle the region early Monday, including a magnitude-5.7 tremor, according to the Meteorological Agency. No damage or injuries were immediately reported.

"A series of magnitude-5 aftershocks could continue up to the next 10 days. They could cause tsunami waves, and I urge people to evacuate to higher ground," public broadcaster NHK quoted Yoshinobu Tsuji, assistant professor at the University of Tokyo's Earthquake Research Institute, as saying Monday.

Tsunami -- waves triggered by seismic activity -- as high as 3 feet were recorded along the Pacific Coast Sunday, though the Meteorological Agency lifted its tsunami warnings early Monday.

Kyodo News agency also reported that 600 homes were without electricity, while high-speed train services were temporarily suspended.

The two quakes late Sunday occurred far off Japan's Pacific coast, which may have minimized damage.

The first quake was centered about 70 miles off the coast of Wakayama on the Kii peninsula and the second was centered about 80 miles off the coast of Kochi state.

Japan, which rests atop several tectonic plates, is among the world's most earthquake-prone countries.

A magnitude 7 quake is capable of causing widespread, heavy damage.

In 1995, a magnitude-7.2 quake in the western port city of Kobe killed 6,400 people.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)