TOKYO – A powerful 6.6-magnitude quake rocked the northern Japanese islandof Hokkaido Thursday, killing at least twelve people, collapsing homes, andtriggering landslides that left dozens missing.

Multiple, large-scale landslides struck the sparsely populated countryside,which was also hit by the edge of a powerful typhoon that surged throughJapan earlier this week.

Aerial views showed dozens of houses destroyed at the bottom of a hill thatwas engulfed by a landslide, with a rescue helicopter winching a residentto safety.

Around three million homes lost power after the quake damaged a majorthermal plant supplying the region.

The Tomari nuclear power plant in Hokkaido, which was not operationalbefore the quake, was forced to turn to emergency back-up power to keep itscooling system working, NHK said.

Kazuo Kibayashi, 51, a town official at hard-hit Abira town, told AFP:”There was a sudden, extreme jolt. I felt it went sideways, notup-and-down, for about two to three minutes.”

“It stopped before shaking started again. I felt it come in two waves. I am51, and I have never experienced anything like this. I thought my house wasgoing to collapse. Everything inside my house was all jumbled up. I didn’thave time to even start cleaning,” he added.

Moments after the initial quake, an aftershock measuring 5.3 rocked thearea and dozens more aftershocks followed throughout the night and into themorning.

Akira Fukui, from the main city of Sapporo, told AFP: “I woke up around 3amwith a vertical jolt. I put the light on but it went out shortlyafterwards. All the traffic lights are out and there’s no power at work.”

No tsunami warning was issued after the relatively shallow quake, whichstruck 62 kilometres (39 miles) southeast of the regional capital Sapporo.

Around 20,000 rescue workers, including police and members of theSelf-Defence Forces were responding to the disaster, government spokesmanYoshihide Suga said. Another 20,000 SDF troops are expected to join theeffort.

“We will do our best to save lives,” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said afteran emergency cabinet meeting.

NHK reported that eight people had lost their lives, six of them in thevillage of Atsuma, where the landslide engulfed the homes. Nearly 40 peoplewere still missing, the broadcaster added.

Local media said the dead also included an 82-year-old man who fell downthe stairs at his home during the quake and that around 130 people hadsustained minor injuries.

“I urge people in areas shaken by strong quakes to stay calm, pay attentionto evacuation information… and help each other,” Suga added.

Japan is still recovering from the worst typhoon to hit the country in 25years, which struck the western part of the country on Tuesday, claiming atleast 11 lives and causing major damage to the region’s main airport.——————————

*Ring of fire*——————————

Officials warned of the danger of fresh quakes.

“Large quakes often occur, especially within two to three days (of a bigone),” said Toshiyuki Matsumori, in charge of monitoring earthquakes andtsunamis at the meteorological agency.

The risk of housing collapses and landslides had increased, he said, urgingresidents “to pay full attention to seismic activity and rainfall and notto go into dangerous areas.”

The earthquake also caused travel disruption, with all flights cancelledfrom Sapporo’s main Chitose airport, where the quake brought down part of aceiling and burst a water pipe. Local buses and trains and bullet trainservices were halted.

Industry Minister Hiroshige Seko said it would take “at least a week” forpower to be restored to nearly three million homes after a fire in thearea’s largest thermal plant was discovered.

And the national meteorological agency warned that more bad weather couldbe on the way for Hokkaido, urging people to be vigilant for landslides,high tides and heavy rain.

Japan sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” where many of the world’searthquakes and volcanic eruptions are recorded.

In June, a deadly tremor rocked the Osaka region, killing five people andinjuring over 350.

On March 11, 2011, a devastating 9.0-magnitude quake struck under thePacific Ocean, and the resulting tsunami caused widespread damage andclaimed thousands of lives. – APP/AFP