Japan: 7 casualties in second earthquake

(Baonghean.vn) – The earthquake in the early morning of April 16 in Kumamoto, Japan killed 5 people and seriously injured 2 people, bringing the total death toll to 12 people, as of 9:42 a.m. local time.

: After two strong earthquakes, about 44,000 people were evacuated from their homes. Photo: AFP

The victims of this morning's earthquake were mostly people who returned home after the city's power supply was restored to get supplies needed for evacuation. Many people are also reported missing after returning home.

Last night's earthquake partially destroyed Kumamoto Hospital, which received many patients from the April 14 earthquake, forcing patients to be evacuated to other hospitals.

By 4am on April 16, there had been 400 phone calls to the police reporting people buried in the rubble in need of rescue. Some of the city's solid buildings, such as the city's People's Committee building, were also partially destroyed.

At least two large student housing buildings were badly damaged, with many students still trapped in the rubble. Rescue teams have yet to confirm the number of students killed in the two buildings.

According to the Kyusyu Electric Power Center, this earthquake did not affect the operation of the Kawauchi nuclear power plant.

According to information from the Japanese meteorological station, as of 9:00 a.m. this morning local time, there were 62 earthquakes and aftershocks of over 3 magnitude in Kumamoto and Oita provinces.

Quach Le Quyen

Osaka, Japan