No risk of tsunami from the 6.7 magnitude earthquake, but residents urged to watch out for landslides.
A 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck shortly after 10 pm Saturday west of Nagano city in central Japan at a depth of 10 kilometres, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. Helicopter surveys on Sunday showed more extensive damage than earlier thought. At least 37 homes were destroyed in two villages, and 39 people were injured across the region. Seven of the injured are in critical injured, officials said.
Since the quake occurred inland, there was no possibility of a tsunami.
Ryo Nishino, a restaurant owner in Hakuba, a ski resort village west of Nagano, told Japanese broadcaster NHK that he had “never experienced a quake that shook so hard. The sideways shaking was enormous.” He said he was in the restaurant’s wine cellar when the quake struck, and that nothing broke there.
Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority said no abnormalities were reported at three nuclear power plants in the affected areas. All of Japan’s nuclear plants are offline following a magnitude-9.0 earthquake and massive tsunami in 2011 that sent three reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant into meltdown. Fukushima is about 250 kilometres northeast of where Saturday’s earthquake occurred.
The hardest-hit area appeared to be Hakuba, which hosted the Olympics in 1998. At least 30 homes were reportedly destroyed and 17 people were injured. S even houses were demolished in Otari, a nearby village to the north. Non-residential buildings were also destroyed, with officials still assessing the extent.
Japanese television footage showed buildings in various states of collapse, some flattened and others leaning to one side, and deep cracks in the roads. A landslide spilled onto a railroad track, forcing the service to stop. About 200 people have been shifted to shelters, almost all from Hakuba and Otari.
Per reports, 21 people trapped under collapsed houses were rescued. Japanese television showed police going house to house Sunday morning, calling out to make sure that inhabitants were accounted for.
“The hardest-hit area was in the mountains and sparsely populated, where neighbours have a close relationship and help each other,” said an official. “So I don’t think anyone has been forgotten or left isolated.”
Shinkansen bullet train service in the region was restored after a short interruption. Chubu Electric Power Co. said 200 homes were still without power on Sunday.
The quake was followed by more than 45 aftershocks, and Meteorological Agency official Yohei Hasegawa urged residents to watch out for landslides.
