Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said 13 people have been found dead after a powerful quake shook part of southwestern Japan and rescue work was continuing today for the missing.
A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck the Kumamoto area on the southern main island of Kyushu late Tuesday afternoon (local time).
Takaichi said many other people were injured or still missing as rescue work continued overnight.
Part of a shopping centre collapsed, apparently due to a gas leak, and a huge chimney at a paper factory collapsed.
The quake collapsed the second floor of the Aeon Mall in Kashima Town, trapping people, according to the fire department in the prefectural capital of Kumamoto.
A chimney collapsed at the Nippon Paper Industries Co.’s Yatsushiro factory, trapping people under the debris, the Kumamoto emergency team said.
The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said more than 260,000 people were advised to evacuate, most of them in Kumamoto prefecture, but also in the neighbouring Nagasaki prefecture.
The affected area is about 900km southwest of Tokyo, the country’s capital.
The morning's headlines in 90 seconds, including a powerful quake hits Japan, Winston Peters lashes out at the Greens, and a shark bite caught on camera. (Source: 1News)
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