Bridgestone Corp. has announced that no one was injured and there was no critical damage to its five northeastern Japan facilities affected by Friday’s earthquake catastrophe.
In response to the disaster, Bridgestone has stopped production at the Tochigi factory, the Nasu factory, the Kuroiso factory and the Tokyo factory. These four facilities will remain idle until the company can verify that production can safely resume.
Many parts of the nation are without power, and several nuclear power plants are damaged. As such, electricity will be a major issue in commencing production.
Partial production has resumed at Bridgestone’s factory in the city of Yokohama. The company says full production will resume after the verification of safety is completed.
The Tochigi and Tokyo plants produce passenger car tires, plus truck and bus tires. There are 1,096 workers at the Tochigi location and 1,033 at the Tokyo plant.
The Nasu factory makes passenger car and motorcycle tires and has 847 employees. The Kuroiso facility supplies steel cord for radial tires and beadwire for tires, with 657 workers.
The Bridgestone factory in Yokohama produces industrial products and construction materials. It employs 1,663 people.
The company also has expressed condolences to those who have lost loved ones. The death toll is expected to reach into the tens of thousands.
