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Dozens Killed in Japan Earthquake

Rescue workers take care of a woman suffering from shock after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake at the evacuation center at the Mashiki Town Gymnasium on Saturday, April 16, in Kumamoto, Japan. The latest earthquake struck early Saturday on Kyushu island, the same region hit by a magnitude-6.2 earthquake two days earlier.
A series of powerful earthquakes hit Japan doesn't stop the emergency crews scrambling to rescue survivors trapped in rubble as aftershocks sway Kyushu region.



At least 23 people died in the latest Kyushu earthquake, according to Kumamoto Prefecture's disaster management office. The 7.0-magnitude quake hit early Saturday local time.

Two days earlier, a 6.2.-magnitude quake rattled the area, killing nine people. This brought the total death toll from both earthquakes to 32. Both earthquakes left 968 people injured, according to the disaster management office.

The latest and most powerful earthquake struck near the city of Kumamoto. It toppled buildings, collapsed bridges and shredded structures into piles of debris.

At least 23 people are buried inside buildings, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said.

Residents were already reeling from the effects of the 6.2-magnitude earthquake that hit Thursday near Ueki city, just 15 kilometers away.

"The first earthquake was very big," said Osamu Yoshizumi, the senior chief of international affairs in Kumamoto. "We thought it was the big one."

That initial earthquake was a "foreshock" to the latest one, according to USGS.

After Saturday's deadly quake, Kumamoto prefecture continues to experience as many as 165 aftershocks.
"I feel every aftershock," said Yoshizumi, who was working from the city hall building in Kumamoto. "It's swaying here every hour."

A house in Mashiki teeters after the quake.


Rescue efforts

The Red Cross treated more than 1,000 people in the Kumamoto area Friday, but the organization anticipates the number will increase following Saturday's earthquake.

Medical staff prepare to evacuate patients from the hospital in Kumamoto City on April 16, over fears it could collapse as a wave of aftershocks hit the area.


"The most serious [patient] cases were cut by glasses or the collapse of some houses," said Nobuaki Sato, director of the International Relief Division at the Japanese Red Cross.

"We don't know what is happening in the whole disaster area because it is a remote mountain area and some big bridges were down and many landslides were found so we were working around the clock and are making assessments. But so far the road access is not easy to the remote areas."

Japan's Fire and Disaster Management Agency said 7,262 people have sought shelter since Friday in the Kumamoto Prefecture.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had intended to visit Kumamoto on Saturday, but called off his visit. His office told CNN that the prime minister would instead spearhead efforts from Tokyo. The country's air force will send six planes and nine ships to Kumamoto to deliver food, blankets and all emergency necessities.

Japan received offers of support from other nations.

Japan's "Ring of Fire"

The shallow depth of the latest quake and the dense population of where it struck could prove to be devastating, according to experts.

"No question, this is a large and very important earthquake," said Doug Given, a geophysicist with the USGS. "And it will do a lot of damage."

"The four islands of Japan are on the edge of what's traditionally been known as the 'Ring of Fire'" -a stretch along parts of the Pacific Ocean prone to volcanoes and earthquakes.

Victor Sardina, a geophysicist in Honolulu, Hawaii, told CNN that the latest quake was about 30 times more powerful than the first one near Ueki. He predicted "severe, serious implications in terms of damage and human losses."

Japanese media reported a small scale eruption of Mt. Aso on Saturday morning. It was unclear whether it's related to the earthquake, according to the Japan's meteorological agency.

Source : CNN
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