Earthquake in Japan’s Hokkaido island

An earthquake measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale, followed by a number of aftershocks, rocked Japan’s Hokkaido prefecture on Thursday, leaving multiple houses buried by landslides. Rescue work is underway to search for the missing.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), the major temblor was centred in the Hokkaido prefecture at 3.08 a.m. (Japan time) with the epicentre at a latitude of 42.7 degrees north and a longitude of 142.0 degrees east, and at depth of 40 km, Xinhua reported.

Police said they had received multiple reports of injuries as a result of the quake, including an 82-year-old man who was found with no vital signs after falling down the stairs but was later recovered. In Sapporo, capital city of Hokkaido, 53 people were reported injured.