Toll rises to five after quake in Japan's Osaka

The death toll in a powerful earthquake that rocked Japan's Osaka has risen to five, with some 370 injured, officials said today urging vigilance against landslides ahead of heavy rains.

The fifth fatality was a 66-year-old man who was found dead today under a number of books and CDs in his home, a local government spokeswoman said.

The other casualties were a nine-year-old girl who was killed when a wall collapsed at her school following the 5.3-magnitude quake occurred yesterday, along with two men and a woman, all in their eighties, who were trapped under a wall or furniture.

"The government will keep up efforts to rescue people," top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters, adding that there were no reports of missing people.

He further said officials would do "everything we can" to quickly restore gas and running water to homes cut off after the quake.

Japan's meteorological agency meanwhile warned that heavy rains expected in Osaka today and tomorrow could cause landslides in the region, with the quake potentially having loosened earth.

Suga also called for residents to be on alert, saying, "landslide disasters are possible in the region that experienced strong tremors, even if rains are light."