A powerful earthquake and strong aftershocks rocked northern Japan, killing at least 14 people, injuring more than 700 and knocking out power and phone services to at least 278,000 homes, according to local media.
Kyodo news agency also reported that five people had been buried alive, as aftershocks continued more than 10 hours after the initial jolt with a magnitude of 6.8 hit rural Niigata prefecture yesterday.
Temperatures fell and people who had gone outdoors for fear of more aftershocks were keeping warm with stoves and blankets.
Eight cars of a bullet train derailed near Nagaoka, but there were no injuries, a Transport Ministry official said.
It was the first time the high-speed train had derailed since service began in 1964, the official said.
The initial tremor as well as aftershocks also shook buildings in Tokyo but there were no reports of injuries or major damage in the capital 150 miles south.
Officials said the quake was the strongest to hit the region since 1933.
At least 14 people, including an elderly woman who died of shock and a two-month-old infant, were killed in the Niigata area, a rice-growing region on the Sea of Japan, public broadcaster NHK said.
Another three children were also killed after being buried under collapsed houses, it added.