A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.3 jolted central Japan today, injuring at least two people, reported Japanese news agency "Kyodo". A man and a woman were injured at a roadside restaurant in Kameyama, Mie Prefecture, as a ceiling board fell due to the quake, local firefighters said. They were taken to hospital. The government set up a task force at the prime minister's office in Tokyo to gather injury, damage and other information related to the earthquake. The quake registered upper 5 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 in the northern part of Mie Prefecture, lower 5 in the central part of the prefecture and 4 in Nara Prefecture as well as the southern parts of Mie and Shiga prefectures, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. The quake's focus was about 10 kilometers underground in central Mie Prefecture, the agency said. West Japan Railway Co. said parts of its train services, including the Sanyo Shinkansen bullet train service, have been suspended. Kintetsu Corp. said it has suspended train services in parts of Mie and Aichi prefectures. Parts of expressways in the areas hit by the earthquake have been also closed for checks of the roads. -- SPA
