Two people are reported to have died as several powerful earthquakes shook northwestern Japan within minutes of each other today. 90 people are reported to have been injured.
The quakes - the first of which measured magnitude 6.8 and struck at 5:56 p.m. - were centered near the city of Ojiya about 12 miles beneath the earth's surface, the Meteorological Agency said. Ojiya is 160 miles northwest of Tokyo.
The other tremors, the strongest of which hit intermittently over two hours, also included magnitude-6.2 and 5.9 quakes. Aftershocks followed, some just as forceful, the agency said.
Media reports said the shaking in some parts of Niigata was so severe that people had difficulty standing. Buildings in Tokyo swayed several times for up to a minute.
Officials said teams had been dispatched to assess the damage and offer assistance to residents but darkness and buckled roads were hampering their efforts. They ordered residents to head for evacuation centers.
One person in Ojiya had died at a hospital after being hit by falling rocks and suffering a broken neck, NHK and Kyodo News reported. A 34-year-old man was struck by a falling wall as he fled his home in Tokamachi and later died, media said.
Sewage and water mains burst and gas and telephone services were down and about 250,000 homes had lost power, officials told Japanese media.
At least 50 people were injured by objects that had fallen from shelves in Tokamachi, according to media reports. In Ojiya, at least 20 others were reported injured, and homes in other towns and cities had collapsed, Kyodo News said.
Sewage and water mains burst and gas and telephone services were down and about 250,000 homes had lost power, officials told Japanese media.
The tremors started around dinner time and several homes were on fire, Nagaoka city disaster official Toshimoto Onda told NHK.