Sep 06 (NHK) - Seven people are dead after a powerful earthquake rocked Japan's northern prefecture of Hokkaido early this morning. At least 200 are injured and about 30 more are missing.
Officials with the Meteorological Agency say the quake measured the strongest possible level on Japan's seismic intensity scale.
The quake was a magnitude 6.7 on the Richter scale. It hit shortly after 3 AM on the western part of the island, leaving everyone in the dark.
There have been dozens of aftershocks since then. Evacuation orders have been issued in some areas.
Near the epicenter, landslides wiped out homes in Atsuma. All of the missing are from this town.
Helicopter crews are carrying out rescue operations. But rescue workers are frantically searching for people buried in the rubble.
A resident told NHK the tremors were at a scale he had never experienced before.
Some residents have been lifted to safety from their homes.
The extent of the damage is still being assessed but throughout the prefecture, buildings are tilted and roads are cracked and buckled.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says the government has set p an emergency task force that is putting a priority on search and rescue. He says 25-thousand Self-Defense Force personnel will be sent.
Evacuation shelters are being set up in many towns and cities.
Source: ANNnewsCH
