Quake hits Japan
A powerful magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit Japan's southernmost main island of Kyushu yesterday, killing an elderly woman, injuring up to 400 people and forcing hundreds to flee their homes, officials and media reports said. The focus of the shallow quake...
A powerful magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit Japan's southernmost main island of Kyushu yesterday, killing an elderly woman, injuring up to 400 people and forcing hundreds to flee their homes, officials and media reports said.
The focus of the shallow quake was off the western coast of Fukuoka Prefecture, about 900 kilometres southwest of Tokyo on the island of Kyushu, the meteorological agency said.
It was felt as far away as Seoul, the capital of South Korea. Public broadcaster NHK showed footage of office buildings swaying in Fukuoka city, piles of glass from shattered windows and cracks in pavements. The quake also tilted many buildings around northern Kyushu. A 75-year-old woman in Fukuoka city died from injuries after a cement-block wall fell on top of her, local police said.
"It was so strong that I thought my house would collapse. I rushed to turn off the stove and evacuated. I felt uneasy because it was my first experience," Toshiyuki Yasukawa, an official in the town of Sue in Fukuoka, told NHK.