Strong quake rocks Japan

TOKYO — A magnitude 8.0 earthquake rocked Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido early today, injuring more than 243 people, knocking out power, derailing a train and touching off an industrial fire.

There were no immediate reports of deaths directly caused by the quake in the hours following the temblor, which forced the evacuation of some 41,000 people and left some 16,000 homes blacked out.

The government warned residents to avoid coastal areas due to the possibility of a tsunami, or tidal wave caused by seismic activity. The meteorological agency said a tsunami about 3 feet high hit the city of Kushiro, about 510 miles north of Tokyo, but there were no reports of damage.

The quake struck at 4:50 a.m., cracking roads, capsizing fishing boats and causing the roof of a local airport to cave in. The temblor, centered in the Pacific Ocean about 60 miles off Hokkaido’s eastern shore, had a magnitude of 8, Japan’s Central Meteorological Agency said.

An earthquake of that magnitude is capable of causing tremendous damage. The meteorological agency said the earthquake was centered 36 miles under the seabed.

An aftershock of magnitude 7 followed shortly after 6 a.m., the U.S. Geological Survey said from Golden, Colo. Another aftershock was reported at 8 a.m., but its magnitude was not immediately known.

Television footage showed an office where books were knocked off shelves, and desks and computers swayed back and forth as the quake hit. Merchandise fell off store shelves, and people sought shelter in schools.

Hiroaki Tanaka, a Kushiro fire department official, said 50 people were treated for bruises and broken bones. Hokkaido government official Hiroyuki Nakao said 31 people were injured, two of them seriously, in towns outside Kushiro.