Powerful Quake Kills Dozens In Japan’s Kumamoto

KABUL: (MEP) At least 19 people have lost their lives, hundreds are wounded and many more are reported to be trapped in a powerful earthquake in the southern Japanese city of Kumamoto.

The magnitude-7.0 earthquake struck Kyushu Island, in the middle of the night the same region rattled by a 6.2 quake two days earlier.

The earthquake toppled buildings and shredded structures into pile of debris. At least 23 people were buried inside buildings, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said.

A tsunami alert was also issued but lifted around an hour after the quake that struck at a depth of 10 kilometers.  

According to reports, some 760 people have been injured and a hospital in the city may be evacuated over fears of collapse and that there are reports of people being trapped under debris.

Japanese media reported that nearly 200,000 homes were without electricity. Drinking water systems had also failed in the area. Japanese TV news footage showed people huddled in blankets, quietly, shoulder to shoulder, on floors of evacuation centers.

Thousands of people have fled on to the streets and into parks – where they are huddled under blankets looking dazed and afraid, our correspondent says.