TOKYO, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- A Japanese court on Wednesday ordered the government to pay around 3.9 billion yen (25 million U.S. dollars) in damages to residents around Atsugi air base near Tokyo for health hazards and psychological distress due to noise, local media reported.

Presiding Judge Nobuhiro Okada at the Yokohama District Court said the jarring noise "caused damage that exceeded what could be tolerated in social life" in the case brought by around 8,000 nearby residents and others regarding the Naval Air Facility Atsugi in Kanagawa Prefecture, Kyodo News reported.

Okada acknowledged that the use of the base, straddling the densely populated cities of Ayase and Yamato, has affected the lives of the residents for a long period of time and amounts to a rights violation, the report said.

An official from the Defense Ministry's regional bureau said it would "act accordingly with relevant agencies regarding our next steps."

A series of lawsuits have been filed over noise pollution issues at the base, jointly used by the Japanese Self-Defense Forces and the U.S. military, since 1976. Enditem