Big earthquake hits Japan, sparking landslides
A large earthquake has struck Japan’s biggest northern island, Hokkaido, collapsing buildings and damaging critical infrastructure.
Buildings have collapsed, roads buckled, and people have been trapped amid widespread landslides sparked by a strong 6.6-magnitude earthquake that has struck the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.
The quake struck 27 kilometres east of Tomakomai at a depth of 33.4km at 3.07am (6.07am NZT). No tsunami warning was issued from the inland quake.
Rescue squads from fire departments were combing many areas for survivors and further people who could be trapped following widespread massive landslides.
The shaking continued for at least 30 seconds, witnesses said. The quake was followed by three aftershocks, measuring up to magnitude 4.8.
There were reports of at least one person was found without vital signs, with people trapped in elevators, buildings and houses following the tremors.
震度５弱以上を観測したと考えられるものの震度のデータが入っていない北海道厚真町のようす ヘリコプターから撮影#nhk_news #地震 #震度６強 pic.twitter.com/UkWjC0EyBt
— NHKニュース (@nhk_news) September 5, 2018
Soil oversaturated by recent heavy rains had caused widespread landslips during the M6.6 quake, covering many houses and blocking roads.
Police had reported multiple injuries following the earthquakes.
Rescue squads from fire departments were combing many areas for survivors and further people who could be trapped.
A woman covers her face as she takes shelter on a road in Sapporo city following the strong earthquake.
Around 2.95 million households in regional capital Sapporo were without power.
Shaking from the quake early Thursday morning measured an “upper 6” on the Japanese quake intensity scale of 7 in Abira in western Hokkaido.
Buildings shake as a major earthquake rocks Japan’s second largest island.
That was the strongest shaking felt in Japan since powerful quakes struck Kumamoto, in southern Japan, in 2016.
There was no impact from the earthquake to Hokkaido Electric Power Co’s Tomari nuclear plant, which has been offline since 2012, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters.
NHK later reported that external power to the plant had been cut off, but emergency generators were working and there was no impact on the storage of the plant’s nuclear fuel.
Many landslides sparked by the quake had covered houses and blocked roads.
Two other nuclear power plants in northern Japan, Tohoku Electric Power Co’s Higashi-dori, which is also offline, and the under-construction Oma plant, were also unaffected, NHK said.
Earlier in the week, a powerful typhoon struck western Japan around Osaka, killing at least 10 people.
– Agencies
Shaking from the quake early Thursday morning measured an “upper 6” on the Japanese quake intensity scale of 7 in Abira in western Hokkaido.
