Hooked up to a machine examining her baby's heart, all she could do was wait as the earthquake that registered 7.2 on the Richter scale rattled the city of Sendai in Miyagi prefecture, some 300 kilometers (185 miles) north of Tokyo.

"The earthquake was pretty strong and very long. Naturally, I was a bit afraid, but not that afraid because my husband was with me in the room," she said.

"Maybe because we, the people in Sendai, are always told that 'the big one' will come someday, we are more used to earthquakes than people in other communities," the 33-year-old said.

Sendai is particularly prone to earthquakes, with a huge jolt in 1978 killing 28 people. Tuesday's quake in the ocean off the city's coastline was so strong that it shook skyscrapers in Tokyo.

But residents here sighed relief as the massive quake caused little physical damage and no deaths, although around 50 people across the country were injured.

"When I looked outside, I saw small cars bouncing like they were on a trampoline," said Masaya Ito, 24, a car salesman who was at his house in Sendai when the earthquake hit.

"I immediately got up to hold onto a cabinet drawer to make sure it would not fall. The quake continued for a very long time and it was very, very strong.

"Later I saw on television that it was not 'the big one.' But I'm afraid that we'll have to experience the real big one sometime."

After the earthquake, Japan's meterological agency issued a tsunami alert which was lifted after three waves around 10 centimeters (four inches) high hit the coast.

Ito's sister, Chika, 18, was fishing at a port near Sendai when the ground started to shake.

"I was so afraid. When I looked at the ocean, I could tell the tide was pulling back. I put on my car radio and heard that there was a tsunami warning. A police car also came to the port to tell us about the tsunami warning."

Eiji Kikuchi, who was at a gas station where he worked, said motorists pulled off the road when the quake struck as they could not drive straight.

"I barely managed to stand. It felt like things were going to fall. When I tried to get out of the store, the quake stopped.

"It would have been more scary if the store's glass had shattered. I'm worried that another big one will hit."

All rights reserved. � 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.

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