Survivors pulled from ruins
TOKYO — Police officers and firefighters rescued almost two dozen people, including a two-year-old toddler, from beneath their collapsed houses on Sunday, a day after a powerful earthquake shook mountainous central Japan. At least 40 people were injured, but no deaths were reported.
Hundreds of people were forced to find shelter in school gyms and other evacuation centers after the magnitude-6.7 quake struck near the city of Nagano on Saturday night, the police said. They said at least 34 homes had collapsed near Hakuba, a ski resort town, where some of the worst damage was concentrated.
Many more buildings were damaged, and the police warned of landslides caused by aftershocks. On Saturday, the earthquake caused landslides that cut off roads and isolated residents, according to Japan’s Kyodo News Agency.
Rescuers in and near Hakuba found 21 people trapped inside their collapsed homes, including an infant who was uninjured, the police said.
Television footage showed police officers going door to door to make sure everyone was accounted for.
In areas where there was less damage, the most serious injuries appeared to be blows to the head or broken bones caused by falling furniture and “butsudan,” household Buddhist shrines that are mounted on walls, the police said.
Strong shocks were felt at the nearby Kashiwazaki- Kariwa nuclear plant, which suffered light damage seven years ago from a strong earthquake. This time, no damage was found, though alarms sounded at the pools holding spent fuel rods, said the plant’s operator, the Tokyo Electric Power Co.