ID :
167570
Fri, 03/11/2011 - 19:00
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/167570
The shortlink copeid
Some rail services in Tokyo area resume operation after quake
TOKYO (Kyodo) - Some rail services in the Tokyo metropolitan area resumed Friday night after being suspended for several hours following a massive earthquake that struck northeastern Japan.
Areas near stations in the metropolitan areas consisting of four prefectures, including downtown Tokyo, were inundated with more than 20,000 people as of 9 p.m. Friday, the National Police Agency said, while many were facing difficulties due to mobile phone communication failures.
Some roads were crowded with people walking home, while hotels and comic book cafes in downtown Tokyo were also packed with people trying to spend the night as they were unable to go home due to continued suspension of some of the railways.
Tokyo Metro Co., the operator of subways in downtown Tokyo, halted its services after the earthquake also jolted the nation's capital. It resumed full operations on the Ginza Line and partially on the Hanzomon Line several hours later, while the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's Transportation Bureau resumed full operations on the Oedo Line and partial operations on the Asakusa and Mita Lines.
East Japan Railway Co. suspended all services in the metropolitan area as well as bullet train services on the Tohoku, Joetsu, Nagano, Yamagata and Akita Shinkansen Lines throughout Friday.
Keio Corp. and Odakyu Electric Railway Co. have also halted their rail services.
Japan's top government spokesman Yukio Edano asked people to evacuate to somewhere safe, such as office buildings, while calling on them not to try too hard to get home.
''We are calling for an early resumption of railway services, but it will not happen until safety is ensured,'' Chief Cabinet Secretary Edano said at a press conference. ''If people try to go home by foot, in some cases pathways could be like fully packed trains.''
Edano has also instructed government ministries to fully utilize public facilities help those people.
The Tokyo metropolitan government opened facilities including 244 metropolitan schools as overnight accommodations for people who cannot return home.
The Tokyo metropolitan government and the governments of three prefectures adjacent to Tokyo as well as five major cities in the areas asked convenience stores, restaurants and fast-food shops in the areas to offer drinking water, places to rest and bathrooms for those people unable to return home.
The governments and shop operators have arranged a deal for such offers in the event of disaster.
Meanwhile, the Saitama prefectural government offered to open its Saitama Super Arena for about 5,000 people who are stranded in the JR East's Omiya Station.
The central government's Central Disaster Prevention Council has estimated that about 6.5 million people would be stranded in the metropolitan area, being unable to return home in the event of an inland earthquake in the area.
Large sections of highways in the Tokyo metropolitan area and northeastern Japan were closed after the magnitude 8.8 quake hit at 2:46 p.m.
Air transportation was also heavily affected.
A total of 711 flights were canceled at domestic airports, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. About 13,000 people and 10,000 people were stranded at Narita airport east of Tokyo and Tokyo's Haneda airport, respectively.
Sendai airport in Miyagi Prefecture halted all takeoffs and landings as its runways were soaked by a tsunami triggered by the earthquake that struck the prefecture and other areas.
Areas near stations in the metropolitan areas consisting of four prefectures, including downtown Tokyo, were inundated with more than 20,000 people as of 9 p.m. Friday, the National Police Agency said, while many were facing difficulties due to mobile phone communication failures.
Some roads were crowded with people walking home, while hotels and comic book cafes in downtown Tokyo were also packed with people trying to spend the night as they were unable to go home due to continued suspension of some of the railways.
Tokyo Metro Co., the operator of subways in downtown Tokyo, halted its services after the earthquake also jolted the nation's capital. It resumed full operations on the Ginza Line and partially on the Hanzomon Line several hours later, while the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's Transportation Bureau resumed full operations on the Oedo Line and partial operations on the Asakusa and Mita Lines.
East Japan Railway Co. suspended all services in the metropolitan area as well as bullet train services on the Tohoku, Joetsu, Nagano, Yamagata and Akita Shinkansen Lines throughout Friday.
Keio Corp. and Odakyu Electric Railway Co. have also halted their rail services.
Japan's top government spokesman Yukio Edano asked people to evacuate to somewhere safe, such as office buildings, while calling on them not to try too hard to get home.
''We are calling for an early resumption of railway services, but it will not happen until safety is ensured,'' Chief Cabinet Secretary Edano said at a press conference. ''If people try to go home by foot, in some cases pathways could be like fully packed trains.''
Edano has also instructed government ministries to fully utilize public facilities help those people.
The Tokyo metropolitan government opened facilities including 244 metropolitan schools as overnight accommodations for people who cannot return home.
The Tokyo metropolitan government and the governments of three prefectures adjacent to Tokyo as well as five major cities in the areas asked convenience stores, restaurants and fast-food shops in the areas to offer drinking water, places to rest and bathrooms for those people unable to return home.
The governments and shop operators have arranged a deal for such offers in the event of disaster.
Meanwhile, the Saitama prefectural government offered to open its Saitama Super Arena for about 5,000 people who are stranded in the JR East's Omiya Station.
The central government's Central Disaster Prevention Council has estimated that about 6.5 million people would be stranded in the metropolitan area, being unable to return home in the event of an inland earthquake in the area.
Large sections of highways in the Tokyo metropolitan area and northeastern Japan were closed after the magnitude 8.8 quake hit at 2:46 p.m.
Air transportation was also heavily affected.
A total of 711 flights were canceled at domestic airports, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. About 13,000 people and 10,000 people were stranded at Narita airport east of Tokyo and Tokyo's Haneda airport, respectively.
Sendai airport in Miyagi Prefecture halted all takeoffs and landings as its runways were soaked by a tsunami triggered by the earthquake that struck the prefecture and other areas.
