Houses feared toppled after strong quake in Japan

TOKYO

More than 10 houses were feared to have toppled after a strong earthquake struck southwestern Japan on Thursday evening, but no tsunami alert was issued.

Kyodo news agency cited police as saying that residents of Kumamoto Prefecture had made emergency calls for help as people were believed to be trapped in collapsed homes.

The weather agency said the magnitude 6.4 temblor occurred at a depth of 10 kilometers (6.4 miles) at 9.26 p.m. (1226GMT) in the Kyushu region.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said no abnormalities were detected at nuclear power plants in the area.

The initial tremor was followed by a magnitude 5.7 aftershock.

The Japan Meteorological Agency announced that the initial quake registered 7 on the country’s seismic scale -- marking the first time the highest level was reached since the 2011 tsunami-earthquake that led to the Fukushima nuclear disaster.