Hokkaido earthquake: 16 dead, 26 missing

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The death toll from a powerful earthquake that jolted the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido has doubled to at least 16, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Friday, as 26 others remain missing.

The tremor struck the northern island at an approximate depth of 40 kilometers at 3:08 a.m. local time on Thursday (1808 GMT Wednesday). No Tsunami warning was issued.

As of 11:00 a.m. local time on Friday, over 100 tremors have been felt in this region.

So far, Japan's Self-Defense Forces have dispatched 6,500 rescue workers to the scene and electricity has been restored to 1.4 million families, according to Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga.

Police and rescue workers search for survivors from a house that was damaged due to a landslide caused by an earthquake in Atsuma town, Hokkaido, Sept. 6, 2018. / VCG Photo

A rainstorm is forecast to hit Hokkaido from shortly after Friday noon through Saturday, according to NHK.

So far, no Chinese nationals were reported killed or injured in the earthquake.

Huge damages

This marked the first time a quake in Hokkaido has reached this intensity level since the seismic scale was revised in 1996, Japan's weather agency said.

According to prefectural officials, more than 6,400 people were forced to spend the night at evacuation centers in the prefectural capital of Sapporo, as massive landslides have damaged many houses in the quake-hit area.

A nuclear plant which was not operational had to switch to its back-up power supply to keep spent fuel cool, NHK earlier reported.

New Chitose Airport, the main airport of Sapporo in Hokkaido, canceled all domestic and international flights scheduled for Thursday.

All rail services have been suspended after the quake, including Shinkansen bullet trains.

Some local municipalities, including Sapporo, have canceled all classes at elementary and junior high schools, according to education authorities in Hokkaido.

People rush out of their houses following the quake in Sapporo, Japan. /VCG Photo

Witnesses say

"I didn't know what happened when the mountain collapsed," a local resident said when she recalled the moment of the earthquake.

"I was shocked, I couldn't believe what was happening," she added.

"I felt that it has been shaking for more than 20 seconds," said Yue Peirong, a Chinese student who has been staying in Japan for three years.

"This is the first time I encountered such a terrible earthquake. I felt that the house is going to collapse," he added.

"The aftershocks kept going on and the campus was dark. A blackout swept over the city," he said.

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