September 29, 2003	Monday	Sha’aban 2, 1424

TOMAKOMAI (Japan), Sept 28: Orange flames and black smoke from a blazing fuel tank spewed into the sky on Sunday, triggered by several aftershocks registering 5.0 or more on the Richter scale that shook Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido.

Two days after nearly 600 people were injured by a powerful earthquake that rattled the region, officials said aftershocks were partly to blame for the fire which broke out at an oil storage tank in the coastal city of Tomakomai.

Experts warned residents to not to let down their guard. “Aftershocks could cause damage,” said an official at Japan’s Meteorological Agency, but he admitted the immediate chance of another major earthquake was diminishing.

“The possibility of strong aftershocks hitting the region is expected to decline as time goes by,” the official said.

But Friday’s earthquake — which at 8.0 on the Richter scale was more powerful than several previous, more deadly ones elsewhere in quake-prone Japan — could still trigger tremors and landslides, he added.

“Because the scale of Friday’s earthquake was so big we assume that it could set off more aftershocks.” A total of 37 aftershocks have been felt in the relatively sparsely populated region since the quake. Police said at least 589 people had been injured.—Reuters