Another powerful earthquake strikes hard-hit Japan

KUMAMOTO: A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck southern Japan early today, just over 24 hours after a quake killed nine people and injured at least 1 000 in the same area.

The quake triggered a tsunami advisory, though it was later lifted and no irregularities were reported at three nuclear power plants in the area, Japanese media reported.

There were no immediate reports of casualties in the quake, though there were several reports of damage, including some collapsed buildings and cracked roads.

The epicentre of the quake was near the city of Kumamoto and measured at a shallow depth of 10km, the US Geological Survey said.

The quake on Thursday evening in the same region was of 6.4 magnitude.

“Thursday’s quake might have been a foreshock of this one,” Shinji Toda, a professor at Tohoku University, told national broadcaster NHK.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the latest quake was 7.1 magnitude and it initially issued a tsunami advisory. NHK said the advisory suggested a possible wave of 1m in height. The advisory was later lifted.

Several aftershocks rattled the region, including one of 5.8 magnitude.

NHK quoted an official at a hospital near the epicentre as saying it had lost power after the quake and had to use its generators.

Most of the casualties in the Thursday quake came in the town of Mashiki, near the epicentre, where several houses collapsed.

A magnitude 9 quake in March 2011, to the north of Tokyo, touched off a massive tsunami and nuclear meltdowns at Fukushima. Nearly 20 000 people were killed in the tsunami.

Rescue operations are under way in the town of Mashiki after the quakes left nine dead, more than 1 000 injured and about 7 700 taking shelter.

Main routes to Mashiki were yesterday congested with fire engines, ambulances and disaster-relief vehicles.

More than 3 000 police, firefighters and SDF members have been deployed to the Kumamoto Prefecture for disaster relief.

An eight- month- old baby was rescued from the rubble early yesterday.

More than 44 000 people fled for shelter in 19 cities in the region after the powerful quakes. – Reuters, Xinhua

SHELTER: Residents take shelter at the town hall of Mashiki, in Kumamoto, southern Japan, after the earthquake yesterday. An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.5 knocked down buildings in southern Japan on Thursday evening.