Japanese island, Hokkaido hit by magnitude 6.7 earthquake

Thursday, September 6, 2018

Japan’s northwest most main island of Hokkaido is hit by a powerful earthquake, the city went dark and three million households were without electricity.

The power system was completely disabled,houses were knocked off from their foundation and hillsides collapsed.Rescuers rushed in to help in unearthing survivors and restoring  power.

After the magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck at 3.08 am, residents in Sapporo were shaken. So far seven people were confirmed dead while 30 were accounted for.

There were a string of calamities in the last few months although Japan is used to dealing with it. Earlier a typhoon caused heavy flooding in western Japan leaving major parts of the airport near Osaka and Kobe were closed due to a tanker that hit the bridge connected to the mainland.

There were heavy floods due to torrential rains in Hiroshima and severe temperatures across the country.

The epicenter of the quake as per the Japan’s Meteorological Agency was 40 km deep. There was no sign of abnormal radiation and the island’s only nuclear power plant was switched to a back up generator to keep its spent fuel cool.

Steep mountains collapsed in towns of Atsuma and rescuers used balackholers and shovels to sift through tons of soil and rocks . Several homes and farm building were collapsed , many airports and roads on the island were closed and trains were cancelled.

Shattered glass and reinstall ceiling panels tumbled down at the airport near  Chitose.

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