Aftershocks shake Japan a day after a strong earthquake killed one person

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Aftershocks rocked Japan a day after a powerful 6.5-magnitude earthquake rocked the country, killing at least one person, as officials assessed damage from the tremor that destroyed several buildings on Saturday.

The 6.5-magnitude quake hit the central Ishikawa prefecture mid-afternoon Friday at a depth of 12 kilometers (seven miles), according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

More than 50 aftershocks, some strong, occurred as of Saturday morning, the agency said, as it warned that heavy rains could trigger landslides in the area.

Japan’s disaster management agency said at least 29 people were injured.

“Our staff are examining the damage caused by the earthquake,” an official from Suzu in Ishikawa Prefecture, the worst-affected city, told AFP.

He said that two people trapped inside destroyed buildings were rescued.

Jiji News Agency reported late Saturday that an evacuation order had been issued for 1,630 residents of Suzhou, with about 250 taking refuge in evacuation centres.

The agency added that more than 100 homes were without running water as of Saturday afternoon, and roads were closed in many areas.

Officials said earlier that the city provided temporary public supplies after running water turned brown in parts of the area.

Television footage showed a grocery store littered with broken wine bottles and other products that had fallen off shelves.

Some residents were seen removing rubble in the rain after their wooden houses were partially destroyed.

“I asked a carpenter to temporarily fix the house, and the house is now covered with blue cloth to protect it from rainwater,” a man told public broadcaster NHK.

Earthquakes are common in Japan, which sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity that stretches across Southeast Asia and across the Pacific Basin.

The country has strict building regulations aimed at ensuring buildings can withstand strong earthquakes and routinely conducts emergency drills to prepare for a major shock.

A 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck a fishing village in the same area in 2007, injuring hundreds and damaging more than 200 buildings on the Noto Peninsula – a scenic area on the Sea of ​​Japan coast.

“I express my heartfelt condolences to the person who passed away and extend my deepest condolences to those affected by the disaster,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who returned from a tour of four African countries and Singapore, said on Friday.

“The government will continue to take action urgently while communicating closely with (officials) at the scene,” Kishida told reporters.

Japan is haunted by the memory of the massive 9.0-magnitude undersea earthquake off its northeast in March 2011, which triggered a tsunami that left some 18,500 people dead or missing.

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