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Saturday, April 16, 2016

Second deadly quake hits Japan, 'race against time' to find survivors

Japanese rescuers dug throughout the rubble of collapsed buildings and mud on Saturday to attain dozens believed trapped from a powerful 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck a southern island, killing a minimum of 26 people and injuring in regards to thousand.

The shallow earthquake hit as a result of hours, sending people fleeing from other beds additionally, on to dark streets, and follows a 6.4 magnitude quake on Thursday which killed nine people in your neighborhood.

Television footage showed fires, power outages, collapsed bridges and gaping holes in your yard. Residents near a dam were advised to leave on account of fears it would crumble, broadcaster NHK said

"I felt strong shaking to begin with, then I was thrown about like I was in a very washing machine," said a Tokai University student who remains isolated inside the village of Minamiaso in Kumamoto province within the island of Kyushu.

"All the lights broke down and I heard a loud noise. A lot of gas is leaking and although there wasn't a fire, that stays a concern," a student, that's sheltering in the university gym with 1,000 other students and residents, told Japanese media.

There were also concerns for the people trapped under rubble overnight with heavy rain forecast along with the temperature likely to drop to 13 degrees Celsius (55 degrees Fahrenheit).

About 190 of such injured were in serious condition, the us govenment said.

Many frightened people engrossed in blankets sat outside their houses while others camped in rice fields in rural areas all around the main towns. About 422,000 households were without water, leading to 100,000 without electricity, the us govenment said. Troops were establishing tents for evacuees and water trucks were being provided for the area.

"The wind is supposed to pick up and rain will almost certainly get heavier. Rescue operations during the night will be very difficult," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told a government meeting. "But you will discover people expecting help. Please do your utmost while putting priority on human lives."

The speed of rescue efforts was critical considering the fact that rain could further damage weakened buildings and cause landslides.

"Nothing might be more important than human life and it is a race against time," Abe said.
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Self Defense Forces personnel from the town of Mashiki, nearby the epicentre, were providing food and water.

"I don't mind browsing line. I'm just thankful for a few food," said a person in his 60s browsing line for the meal.

Japan is about the seismically active "ring of fire" round the Pacific Ocean and possesses building codes directed at helping structures withstand earthquakes.

A magnitude 9 quake in March 2011 north of Tokyo touched off a tremendous tsunami and nuclear meltdowns at Fukushima, contaminating water, food and air for miles around. Nearly 20,000 individuals were killed within the tsunami.

The epicentre of Saturday's quake was close to the city of Kumamoto and measured at the shallow depth of 10 km (six miles), the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said. The shallower a quake, the additionally likely it is to cause damage.

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TSUNAMI ALERT LIFTED

The city's 400-year-old Kumamoto Castle was badly damaged, featuring its walls breached after having withstood bombardment and fire rolling around in its four centuries of existence.

The quake triggered a tsunami advisory that was later lifted no irregularities were reported at three nuclear power plants in the community, a senior government official said.

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, speaking in a G20 event in Washington, said hello was ahead of time to assess the economical impact but bank operations in Kumamoto were normal.

The USGS, a government scientific body, estimated that there would have been a 72 percent odds of economic damage exceeding $10 billion, adding it was to soon to be specific. Major insurers are yet to produce estimates.

Electronics giant Sony Corp (6758.T) said a factory producing image sensors for smartphone makers will continue to be closed although it assesses the destruction from the quakes. One of the company's major customers is Apple (AAPL.O) which uses the sensors in iPhones.
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Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) halted production at three plants producing vehicles, engines and trans axles in Fukuoka. Toyota said there was clearly no damage at its plants, but it really was checking the status of that suppliers. It will settle on Sunday whether or not to resume production.

Nissan Motor Co Ltd (7201.T) stopped production at its Fukuoka plant which produces vehicles for example the Serena, Teana, Murano and Note.

South Korea said hello had rented five buses to move 200 South Korean tourists "stranded" in Oita, for the east of Kumamoto.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said nearly 80 individuals were believed trapped or buried in rubble. Rescuers were pull 10 students outside of a collapsed university apartment inside town of Minami on Saturday.

Extra troops would be shipped to help, with as many as 20,000 due by Sunday, in addition to more police, firefighters and medics, he was quoted saying. "We are generating every effort to react," Suga said.

The region's transport network suffered considerable damage with one tunnel caved in, a highway bridge damaged, roads blocked by landslips and train services halted, Japanese media reported. Kumamoto airport had also been closed.

There have already been more than 230 aftershocks of at the very least level 1 for the Japanese scale since Thursday's shock, said Japan's meteorological agency.

"We have previously seen of varied of the mid to upper 5 plus magnitude range, and also over the next a couple of days and weeks, we will not be surprised to discover more earthquakes in this size," said John Bellini, a geophysicist with all the USGS.

The 2011 Fukushima quake temporarily crippled portion of Japan's auto supply chain particularly, however some companies have since adjusted the industry's "Just in Time" production philosophy in the bid to limit any repeat on the disruption.

(Additional reporting by Linda Sieg, Elaine Lies, William Mallard, Chris Gallagher, Jon Herskovitz and Jack Kim in Seoul; Writing by Robert Birsel, Michael Perry and Nick Macfie; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Martin Howell)

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