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Deadly earthquake topples houses in southern Japan | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
At least two people died and a number were injured after an earthquake jolted southern Japan, toppling buildings and disrupting power supplies. | |
Officials say more people could be trapped under collapsed buildings. | |
About 16,000 homes were left without electricity and 38,000 without gas, reports say. | |
No tsunami warning was issued after the magnitude 6.4 quake, which struck at 21:26 (12:26 GMT) east of Kumamoto city, on the island of Kyushu. | |
Nuclear reactors on the island are not reported to have been affected. | |
The two Sendai nuclear reactors on Kyushu were operating as normal while the three Genkai nuclear reactors still in operation were already closed for routine inspection. | |
The quake struck at a depth of 10km (6.2 miles) and was followed by aftershocks measuring 5.7 about 40 minutes later and 6.4 just after midnight local time. | The quake struck at a depth of 10km (6.2 miles) and was followed by aftershocks measuring 5.7 about 40 minutes later and 6.4 just after midnight local time. |
But Japan's seismology office recorded the shaking at some places to be as intense as the huge magnitude 9 earthquake that hit the country in 2011. | But Japan's seismology office recorded the shaking at some places to be as intense as the huge magnitude 9 earthquake that hit the country in 2011. |
That triggered a tsunami in a double disaster that left more than 18,000 people dead or missing and led to meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. | |
"The shaking was so violent I couldn't stand still," Hironobu Kosaki, a local police official, told the Associated Press news agency. | |
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at least 19 houses had collapsed and officials were still assessing the extent of the damage. | Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at least 19 houses had collapsed and officials were still assessing the extent of the damage. |
Japanese media gave a death toll of between two and three. Reports say 45 people were treated at a hospital in Kumamoto city, with at least five seriously injured. | |
At least two deaths occurred in the town of Mashiki, where the shaking was most severe. The town lies 15km (nine miles) east of Kumamoto. | |
One victim died after being pulled out from under rubble and another was killed in a fire, Kumamoto prefecture disaster management official Takayuki Matsushita was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency. | |
Mashiki residents said houses and walls had collapsed and the water supply had been cut off. | |
An official in the nearby city of Uki said houses there had also collapsed as well as part of the city hall's ceiling. | An official in the nearby city of Uki said houses there had also collapsed as well as part of the city hall's ceiling. |
The BBC's Japan Correspondent Rupert Wingfield-Hayes says the quake took place at a time when most people were at home. | |
Some train services were suspended as a precautionary measure. | Some train services were suspended as a precautionary measure. |
Japan is regularly struck by earthquakes but stringent building codes mean that damage usually does not occur. | Japan is regularly struck by earthquakes but stringent building codes mean that damage usually does not occur. |