Rescuers searched on Monday for survivors of a powerful earthquake in southern Japan that killed one woman, injured hundreds and caused several thousand people to flee their homes.
A police spokesperson on the worst-hit island of Genkai said military and police personnel were ”checking the extent of the damage while searching for anyone who could be buried under collapsed buildings”.
More than 100 aftershocks were felt after Sunday’s earthquake, which measured seven on the Richter scale. The Meteorological Agency warned on Monday that strong tremors measuring up to six on the scale could occur.
Most of Genkai’s 750-strong population have been evacuated to Fukuoka, a large city on the island of Kyushu. In and around Fukuoka, nearly 2 800 people have also fled their homes, a municipal official said.
The powerful quake occurred at 10.53am on Sunday, damaging more than 600 houses, opening up cracks in 62 roads and triggering 11 landslides in the southern Kyushu region, including Genkai island, according to police.
A 75 year-old woman was crushed to death under a wall while at least 206 people were injured, mostly by shards from shattered window panes and falling objects, police said.
Japanese media, however, said more than 400 people received treatment at hospitals for injuries.
The Meteorological Agency immediately issued tsunami warnings after the quake but they were lifted one hour later after no rises in sea levels were detected.
Experts said a tsunami did not occur because the fault was caused by the crust’s horizontal shift rather than a vertical movement.
The earthquake’s epicentre was located in waters about 20km off Fukuoka, with its hypocentre 9km below the surface.
Police on Monday urged people remaining on Genkai island to be alert for more landslides.
”We need to be careful as it is forecast to rain tomorrow,” the police spokesperson said.
Tremors were also felt in South Korea on Sunday.
Residents were forced to evacuate buildings in Busan, a key port city about 450km south of Seoul, the South Korean Yonhap news agency said. There were no reports of injuries or damage.
Sunday’s quake was the biggest earthquake to hit Japan since a magnitude-6,8 quake rattled the Niigata region, about 200km north of Tokyo, on October 23, leaving 40 people dead.
The Niigata disaster was the deadliest in quake-prone Japan since January 17 1995, when 6 433 people died after a pre-dawn tremor in the western port city of Kobe. — AFP
