TOKYO – A power cable disruption on the eastern edge of Tokyo caused widespread blackouts in the metropolitan area, cutting power to about 1.39 million households and causing train services to suspend operations Monday morning.

The power outages, the second-largest in Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s history, lasted about three hours and temporarily threw the Tokyo metropolitan area into turmoil amid the Bon holiday season, suspending train services on many lines.

Several elevators halted trapping people inside and many traffic lights failed to work. No accidents were reported.

According to TEPCO, the blackouts started at 7:38 a.m. Monday after a crane being carried on a barge damaged two main power cables over the Kyu-Edogawa river. The cables at their lowest point are about 16 meters above the water.

Electricity was restored to all areas by 10:44 a.m.

According to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency of the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry, 58 people were trapped in elevators in Tokyo as of 11:30 a.m. In Ichikawa and Urayasu, 11 such cases were reported. Firefighters rescued three people from stopped elevators at a multitenant building and an apartment.

Tokyo Metro Co. said train services were suspended on four lines for up to 70 minutes, affecting about 103,000 people.

According to East Japan Railway Co., 10 trains went out of service and 20 trains were delayed for up to 42 minutes on both directions of the Keiyo Line, affecting 19,000 passengers. Services were suspended on two lines of the Tokyo metropolitan government’s subway system, and trains were delayed on the Odakyu, Tokyu and other private lines. All lines of the Yokohama municipal subway suspended operations for about 10 minutes from about 7:40 a.m.

Tokyo Waterfront New Transit Yurikamome suspended operations for about three hours until 10:30 a.m. A Yurikamome train halted on the Rainbow Bridge and its passengers walked from the bridge to a nearby station.

According to the Metropolitan Police Department, more than 260 traffic lights were out of order in Tokyo as of 8:30 a.m., but were back on in about 30 minutes. As police officers manually controlled the traffic during that time, there were no accidents reported. In Ichikawa and Urayasu, 118 traffic lights were out for more than one hour.

According to Chiba Prefecture’s Urayasu Police Station, the 380-ton floating crane, operated by the civil engineering firm Mikuniya Kensetsu, was on its way to a dredging site at the request of the Urayasu municipal government. Two tugboats were cruising ahead of and behind the crane. At the time, the 33-meter neck of the crane was raised at about a 75-degree angle.

The blackouts became widespread because the accident involving the power supply grid took place near the so-called upstream part of a power supply grid, meaning it was fairly close to a power station, TEPCO said.

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(c) 2006, The Yomiuri Shimbun.

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PHOTO (from MCT Photo Service, 202-383-6099): JAPAN-BLACKOUT

AP-NY-08-14-06 1314EDT