Race to find survivors after deadly Japan quake, landslides

Rescuers scrabbled through mud for survivors Thursday after a powerful earthquake sent hillsides crashing down onto homes in Japan, killing at least nine people and leaving dozens of people missing.

As many as 30 are feared buried beneath the earth and rubble of multiple, large-scale landslides that struck sparsely populated countryside on the northern island of Hokkaido after a 6.6-magnitude earthquake.

Aerial footage showed wrecked farm buildings at the bottom of a hill as rescue helicopters whirred overhead in a region already affected by the edge of a strong typhoon that ravaged parts of Japan earlier in the week.

The quake left almost three million people without power after damage to a major thermal plant supplying the region, with Industry Minister Hiroshige Seko saying it could take "at least a week" for supply to be restored.

Long lines formed outside petrol stations and supermarkets as residents dug in and authorities warned that further quakes could be on the way.

Kazuo Kibayashi, an official in hard-hit Abira town, told AFP: "There was a sudden, extreme jolt. I felt it went sideways, not up-and-down, for about two to three minutes."
Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga added: "I urge people in areas shaken by strong quakes to stay calm, pay attention to evacuation information... and help each other."
"Large quakes often occur, especially within two to three days (of a big one)," said
The risk of housing collapses and landslides had increased, he said, urging residents "to pay full attention to seismic activity and rainfall and not to go into dangerous areas."