Major quake adds to death and
destruction in Japan's deadly summer
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| Aerial view of houses damaged by a landslide in Atsuma town, Hokkaido. |
A powerful earthquake struck Japan's northern Hokkaido
island killing at least 9 people and leaving 30 others missing. Earlier this
week, Typhoon Jebi wreaked havoc on Japan’s main island causing at least 11
deaths.
By Linda Bordoni
Most of those killed in the latest calamity of what is being
described as Japan’s deadly summer were overwhelmed by massive landslides that
crushed houses under torrents of dirt, rocks and timber.
Rescuers are frantically searching for survivors and
officials have confirmed at least 366 people were injured in the 6.7 magnitude
earthquake that jolted residents from their beds just after 3 in the morning.
Nearly 3 million households are without power or water and
power cuts have paralysed businesses in northern Hokkaido, immobilized trains
and airports and shut down phone systems.
The quake is only the latest in a dramatic run of natural
disasters for Japan which has suffered deadly floods, typhoons, earthquakes and
heat in the past few months.
In some of the worst quake-hit areas, where entire hillsides
have collapsed, rescuers are using backhoes and shovels to search for survivors
under tons of earth.
Twenty-eight people remained unaccounted for in the town of
Atsuma which is providing emergency meals for up to 2,000 people and shelter
for more than 500.
The island's only nuclear power plant, which was offline for
routine safety checks, temporarily switched to a backup generator to keep its
spent fuel cool.
Nuclear regulators assure there is no sign of abnormal
radiation. This is an urgent concern after a massive quake and tsunami in March
2011 in northeast Japan destroyed both external and backup power to the
Fukushima nuclear plant, causing meltdowns.
Japan is used to dealing with disasters, but the calamities
of the last few months are putting a huge strain on emergency operations and
have highlighted the country's heavy reliance on vulnerable power systems.
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