A 6.8-magnitude earthquake rocked Japan's northwest coast yesterday, killing nine people and setting off a fire at the world's most powerful nuclear power plant and causing a reactor to spill radioactive water into the sea.

The temblor injured more than 900 as it toppled hundreds of wooden homes and tore 3-foot-wide fissures in the ground. Highways and bridges buckled, leaving officials struggling to get emergency supplies into the region.

Tokyo Electric Power Co's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant - the world's largest - leaked water containing radioactive materials from a reactor after the strong quake, a company spokesman said.

National broadcaster NHK reported that the water leaked into the Sea of Japan (East Sea), but that the radioactivity was below danger levels and posed no danger to the environment.

Fire sirens could be heard in hard-hit Kashiwazaki city, and older buildings were reduced to piles of lumber. Some 10,000 people fled to evacuation centers as aftershocks rattled the area. Tens of thousands of homes were left without water or power.

Nine people in their 70s and 80s-six women and three men-died, most of them crushed by collapsing buildings, the Kyodo news agency said early Tuesday. The area was plagued by a series of aftershocks, the strongest of which was magnitude 6.9 last night. There were no immediate reports of additional damage or injuries from the aftershocks.

Flames and clouds of black smoke poured from the Kashiwazaki nuclear plant, which automatically shut down during the quake. The fire, at an electrical transformer, was put out shortly after noon.

More than 300 buildings in the city were destroyed, according to city officials. The force of the quake buckled seaside roads and bridges, and one-meter wide fissures could been seen in the ground along the coastline.

Rescue workers dug through flattened buildings in hopes of pulling victims alive from the wreckage.

The quake also knocked a train car off the rails at a station. No one was injured.

The Meteorological Agency issued tsunami warnings along the coast of Niigata prefecture state, but the warnings were later lifted. Waves as high as 50 centimeters were believed to have hit the coast, but no damage was reported.

The quake, which hit the region at 10:13 AM local time (01:13 GMT) was centered off the coast of Niigata, 260 km northwest of the capital, Tokyo.

(China Daily via agencies July 17, 2007)