TOKYO: A powerful earthquake rocked north-eastern Japan yesterday, knocking out power, causing a landslide and disrupting road and rail traffic. Buildings swayed in Tokyo, hundreds of kilometers away.
The quake had a preliminary magnitude of 7.0 and was the strongest to hit Japan in two years, the nation’s meteorological agency said. Officials reported only five injuries two hours after it struck yesterday evening, however, and an agency official suggested the impact might have been mitigated by its depth.