Powerful quake kills 9, injures 950 in southern Japan

Tokyo, (IINA) - At least nine people died, and 950 were injured after a 6.5-magnitude earthquake hit the southern Japanese island of Kyushu early Friday. Thousands of rescue workers are currently searching damaged houses, DPA reported.
Walls and houses collapsed in Mashiki town, 900 kilometers south-west of Tokyo, when the quake struck at a depth of 11 kilometers, local officials said.
No tsunami warning was issued and the government said there were no abnormalities at nearby nuclear power stations.
TV footage showed flattened houses, stranded vehicles in sagging roads and residents wrapped in blankets sitting in the open air.
The quake forced more than 44,000 locals to evacuate their homes in the prefecture of Kumamoto, with some spending the night outdoors, broadcaster NHK reported.
More than 12,000 households lost electricity across the prefecture, and the quake cut off water supply to about 1,900 households in the city of Kumamoto, NHK said.
The quake prompted the suspension of train services, including the high-speed bullet train in the region, the report said.
There were about 100 aftershocks in the nine hours after the quake, Gen Aoki, a meteorological agency official, told a news conference early Friday. More were expected in the coming days, he added.
Friday’s quake was the first recorded at level 7 on the Japanese seismic scale since the earthquake and resulting tsunami in the north-east on March 11, 2011, Aoki said.
Those twin natural disasters killed about 18,500 people and triggered meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.
AG/IINA

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