Sasebo shaken up, but not damaged

[catman]

Sasebo shaken up, but not damaged


SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan ? From base personnel gathered for morning worship services to those resting at home watching television, people here and throughout Kyushu Island experienced 30 to 60 seconds of shakes and jolts caused by a magnitude-7.0 earthquake Sunday morning.

Sasebo is in Nagasaki prefecture, about 100 miles southeast of Fukuoka, the hardest-hit city.

As the quake was felt shortly before 11 a.m., some bolted from Sasebo?s chapel exits and down stairs outside the Community and Education Center. People were heard shouting, ?What?s happening?? and ?Is everyone all right??

?We checked all around the building and there are no cracks or damages anywhere, so everyone can come back in and we?ll hold services as planned,? said Cmdr. Harvey Ranard, command chaplain, just after the earthquake.

?We are in one of the safest places we could be on base during this activity because this building is fairly new and built to withstand it,? he added. There were no damages or injuries reported on base.

Lt. Cmdr. John Bernard, Carrier Strike Group 5 spokesman, said the strike group ?became aware of the earthquake soon after it occurred,? but no U.S. ships ? including the USS Kitty Hawk, which on Friday was on its way to a location off the South Korean coast to participate in the Foal Eagle exercise ? or aircraft were affected.

? Greg Tyler, S&S