11 people killed in earthquake in Japan

In Japan, a more powerful earthquake rocked the southern city of Kumamoto last night, a day after an earlier tremor killed nine people. The magnitude 7.3 quake hit at a depth of 10 kilometers at 1:25 AM. Public broadcaster NHK said, eleven people were killed and at least 760 injured. It said, a village has been evacuated after a dam collapsed. A tsunami warning was issued but lifted some 50 minutes later.

This new earthquake in the Kyushu region was much bigger and hit a wider area than the one that struck Kumamoto on Thursday night. In the darkness, it is hard to assess how bad the damage has been. But there are numerous reports of people trapped inside



buildings, including at least 60 inside an old people's home. The quake triggered landslide in Minamiaso village. NHK had warned of sea waves of up to one meter. Japan's nuclear authority said the Sendai nuclear plant was not damaged. The quake was originally assessed as magnitude 7.1 but revised upwards to 7.3 later. 

Meanwhile, the public broadcaster NHK also reported that a small eruption occurred at Mt Aso in southern Japan in the morning following a strong earthquake in the area, with smoke rising about 100 metres high. Japanese Meteorological Agency kept its alert level at 2 on a scale of 5 for Mt Aso, which has had eruptions in the past.