A magnitude-7.2 earthquake shook north-eastern Japan Saturday, killing at least seven people and injuring some 200 others, according to latest official late in the evening, DPA reported. No tsunami warnings were issued. Japan's Self-Defence Force and the Tokyo Fire Department sent relief teams to rescue people buried under collapsed houses and landslides in the quake-hit regions. The two hardest-hit areas were the Iwate and Miyagi provinces. A bus rolled off a road and slid about 50 metres down a cliff. Some 20 passengers, including a driver, were rescued out of the bus within a few hours, but 10 were seriously injured. Seven people were buried inside a partially collapsed hotel as the building was washed away in a landslide at the hot spring resort of Koma in Miyagi province. Upwards of 200 people were injured in the quake hit-regions and 10 were missing. About 29,000 households were left without electricity, and 3,000 households were out of water. Numerous landslides were seen to block off major roads, making it difficult for rescuers to reach disaster areas. Helicopters transported some 300 people who were isolated due to landslides. A total of 29 litres of waste water and radioactive water escaped from its pool at Tokyo Electric Power Co's No 2 plant in Fukushima province, but there was no leakage reported outside the facility and the level of radioactivity was not harmful to the environment, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said. No leakage or other damage was reported at four nuclear power plants in the quake-hit regions, according to the agency. The epicentre of the quake was approximately 100 kilometres north of Sendai in Iwate province, at a depth of some eight kilometres.
