Landslides after powerful quake hits Japan's Hokkaido

A powerful 6.6-magnitude quake rocked the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido Thursday, triggering landslides, collapsing buildings, and killing at least two people with several dozen missing.

Multiple, large-scale landslides struck the sparsely populated countryside, which was also hit by the edge of a powerful typhoon that surged through Japan earlier this week. Aerial views showed dozens of houses destroyed at the bottom of a hill that was engulfed by a landslide, with a rescue helicopter winching a resident to safety. Around three million homes lost power after the quake damaged a major thermal plant supplying the region.

Police scrambled to rescue people trapped by landslides

"Large quakes often occur, especially within two to three days (of a big one)," said Toshiyuki Matsumori, in charge of monitoring earthquakes and tsunamis at the meteorological agency.

He added the risk of housing collapses and landslides had increased in the area hit by the quake, saying: "We urge residents to pay full attention to seismic activity and rainfall and not to go into dangerous areas."

-AFP