Deadly earthquakes strike China and Japan

At least four people have been killed and scores have been injured after powerful earthquakes struck Japan and neighbouring China.

In China, at least 54 were injured after the 5.9-magnitude quake hit near the county of Kangding in Sichuan province on Saturday.

A stampede at a primary school in Tagong town during the quake injured 42 children, while 30 homes collapsed,

In a separate development in Japan, dozens of people were injured across central Japan, including seven seriously, mostly with broken bones, official said.

The 6.7-magnitude quake struck shortly after 13:00 GMT on Saturday west of Nagano city at a depth of 10km, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. Since the quake occurred inland, there was no possibility of a tsunami.

Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority said no abnormalities were reported at three nuclear power plants in the affected areas. All of Japan’s nuclear plants are offline following a magnitude-9.0 earthquake and massive tsunami in 2011 that sent three reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant into meltdown. Fukushima is about 155 miles north-east of where Saturday’s earthquake occurred.

The hardest hit area appeared to be Hakuba, which hosted events in the 1998 Winter Olympics. The village saw at least 30 homes destroyed and 17 people injured in the disaster, the Nagano prefecture government said.

Another seven homes were lost in Otari, a nearby village to the north. Non-residential buildings were also destroyed, with officials still assessing the extent of the damage.

Japanese television footage showed buildings in various states of collapse, some flattened and others leaning to one side, and deep cracks in the road.

About 200 people, mostly from Hakuba and Otari, were evacuated to shelters, while 21 people were rescued form under collapsed homes.