Osaka (Western Japan) and surrounding areas was shook by a powerful earthquake of magnitude 6.1 on the Monday morning around 08:00 a.m. (2300 GMT Sunday). No tsunami warning or advisory was given after the quake, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said the magnitude 6.1 earthquake was upwardly revised from a preliminary 5.9 temblor, which struck Osaka at 7.58am local time.
The Japanese disaster authorities said that more than 200 people were injured in the strong earthquake in Osaka. Three deaths were reported in Osaka and a nearby city, in the dead were a 9-year old girl and two men in their 80s.
The earthquake set off fire inside buildings, toppled concrete walls, cracked roads, partially destroyed buildings and water pipes. More than dozen of flights in and out of Osaka was grounded and train services were suspended. The injuries was caused mainly by the destroyed buildings, debris and broken glasses of buildings. The Japanese disaster management minister Hachiro Okonogi said there are people buried under the rubble of collapsed buildings and local rescue officials are trying to locate them.
The Japanese government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said that there were no reports of major damage as of 8:30 a.m. Trains and subway services including the bullet train have been suspended to check for damage to equipment. Kansai Electric Power Co reported that more than 170,000 homes in Osaka and neighbouring Hyogo prefectures suffered power outages as a result of the quake, similarly the Osaka Gas Co. said it has suspended gas supply to around 108,000 households in Osaka as a precautionary measure against fires.
Japanese Self-Defence Force (SDF) fighter jets and helicopters have been deployed to the area to investigate the scene, government officials said.
The earthquake logged of under 6 magnitude in some parts of Osaka prefecture and of upper 5 magnitude in neighbouring Kyoto prefecture on the Japanese seismic intensity scale which peaks at 7, according to the JMA. The shocks of the quake was also felt in the nearby prefectures of Hyogo, Kyoto, Shiga and Nara. Japan’s public broadcaster NHK said that senior government officials gathered for an emergency meeting at Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s office to assess the situation.
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