Powerful quake rocks island
TOKYO — Two people were confirmed dead, 125 were injured and about 20 were feared missing after a powerful earthquake triggered dozens of landslides in heavily forested mountains on Japan’s northern main island of Hokkaido.
The magnitude-6.7 earthquake struck southern Hokkaido early today local time. Power was knocked out across the island, the country’s national broadcaster, NHK, reported.
The government said airports and many roads on the island were closed following the quake.
Officials said 25,000 troops and other personnel were being dispatched to the area to help with rescue operations.
Nearly all of three million households were without power and a nuclear power plant had to be put on a backup generator.
The earthquake struck southern Hokkaido at 3:08 a.m. local time at the depth of 40 kilometres, Japan’s Meteorological Agency said. The quake’s epicentre was east of the city of Tomakomai. It also struck Hokkaido’s prefectural capital of Sapporo, with a population of 1.9 million.
The U.S. Geological Survey put the magnitude at 6.6. No tsunami warning was issued.
Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency said a man was found without vital signs in Tomakomai and several people were reported missing in the nearby town of Atsuma. At least 20 other people were injured in nearby towns.
Footage on NHK television showed the moment the quake struck Muroran, with its camera violently shaking and all city lights going out a moment later. In Sapporo, a mudslide hit a road, leaving several cars half buried.
In the town of Atsuma, a massive landslide occurred on the side of a mountain, crushing houses at lower levels.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference that the authorities had received hundreds of calls about people missing and collapsed buildings. Officials are doing their utmost for the search and rescue while assessing the damage, he said. The central government set up a crisis management taskforce at the prime minister’s office, Suga said.
The earthquake also affected telephone service and television broadcasting in Sapporo.