Quake strikes Japan’s north

A POWERFUL earthquake rocked Japan’s northernmost main island of Hokkaido yesterday, triggering landslides that crushed homes, knocking out power and forcing a nuclear power plant to switch to a backup generator.

The magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck southern Hokkaido at 3.08am (local time) at a depth of 40km, Japan’s Meteorological Agency said.

The epicentre was east of the city of Tomakomai but the shaking buckled roads and damaged homes in Hokkaido’s prefectural capital of Sapporo, with a population of 1.9 million.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference that two people had been confirmed dead. He did not give details.

Japan is used to dealing with disasters, but the past few months have brought a string of calamities.

The quake came on the heels of a typhoon that wreaked havoc in western Japan, leaving the main airport near Osaka and Kobe closed after a tanker rammed a bridge connecting the facility to the mainland. The summer also brought devastating floods from torrential rains in Hiroshima and deadly hot temperatures across the country.

The Japanese national broadcaster NHK, citing its own tally, reported that 125 people were injured and nearly 40 were feared missing. Hokkaido’s local disaster agency put the number of injured at 48.

Several people were reported missing in the nearby town of Atsuma, where a massive landslide engulfed homes in an avalanche of soil, rocks and timber.

Reconstruction Minister Jiro Akama told reporters that five people were believed to be buried in the town’s Yoshino district. Some of the 40 people stranded there were airlifted to safer grounds, NHK said.

Aerial views showed dozens of landslides in the surround- ing area, with practically every mountainside a raw slash of brown amid deep green forest. Airports and many roads on the island were closed following the early-morning quake.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that 25,000 troops and other personnel would be sent to the area to help with rescue operations.

In Sapporo, a mudslide left several cars half buried.

The quake’s impact was widespread. To the north, in the scenic town of Biei, residents lined up outside of supermarkets and convenience stores, quickly clearing shelves of water, toilet paper and food.

“Only a few cartons of instant ramen were left,” said Mika Takeda, who lives in the town of 10,000.

ONLY A FEW CARTONS OF INSTANT RAMEN WERE LEFT MIKA TAKEDA, RESIDENT