Earthquake hits key Japanese industrial area

People walk on a bridge over Yodo River after public transportation services were suspended for damage checks after an earthquake in Osaka in western Japan. / Kyodo via REUTERS

(Reuters) — Japan’s Osaka Gas Co. said it would take eight to 12 days to resume piped gas supplies to more than 110,000 customers in the Osaka region following a halt after a magnitude 6.1 earthquake shook the nation’s second-biggest metropolis.

Osaka Gas said in a statement that it would try to resume normal supplies to the affected customers between June 26 and 30, with help from other firms.

Piped gas supplies were cut off to about 111,000 customers, mostly in Takatsuki and Ibaraki cities in Osaka prefecture, for safety checks immediately after the quake on Monday morning, the company said.

Three people were killed in the quake, which halted factory lines in a key industrial area and burst water mains, government officials and broadcaster NHK said.

Osaka Gas said there had been no impact on its core facilities for supplying piped gas, sometimes called “city gas.”

The trade ministry said about 1,000 staff from Osaka Gas and other firms had started work on restoring supplies.