WORLD : Thousands of Tremors Hit Region South of Tokyo on 7th Day of Quakes

TOKYO — Thousands of tremors struck an area southwest of the capital today, the seventh day of quakes that have burst water pipes and shaken the tiles off roofs in a seaside tourist town, officials said.

The Meteorological Agency said 2,506 tremors, including a quake with a magnitude of 4.3 and 66 others felt by citizens, were recorded off the peninsula in the first 20 hours of the day. They brought to 11,286 the number of tremors reported in the area since Friday. They were focused at depths of 2.5 to 3.1 miles under the seabed and about 4 miles northwest of Ito, a seaside town 60 miles southwest of Tokyo, the agency said.

A 13-member subcommittee of the government’s Coordinating Committee for Earthquake Prediction, met in an emergency session Wednesday and called for a close watch to determine the potential for a major earthquake.