Magnitude 6.0 quake strikes off central Japan, no tsunami warning

A magnitude 6.0 earthquake off central Japan caused strong shaking on Tuesday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said, but no tsunami warning was issued.

The earthquake struck off the Sea of Japan coast, rattling the same part of the country where a huge tremor on New Year's Day and its aftershocks caused widespread destruction, killing more than 200 people.

The 7.5-magnitude quake destroyed and toppled buildings, caused fires, and knocked out infrastructure on the Noto Peninsula on Japan's main island, Honshu, just as families were celebrating New Year's Day.

Eight days later, thousands of rescuers were battling blocked roads and poor weather to clear the wreckage as well as reach almost 3,500 people still stuck in isolated communities.

On Monday, authorities had more than tripled the number of missing to 323 after central databases were updated, with most of the rise related to badly hit Wajima.

But since then, "many families let us know that they were able to confirm the safety of the persons (on the list)", Ishikawa official Hayato Yachi told AFP.

With heavy snow in places complicating relief efforts, as of Monday, almost 30,000 people were living in around 400 government shelters, some of which were packed and struggling to provide adequate food, water, and heating.

Almost 60,000 households were without running water, and 15,600 had no electricity supply.

Road conditions have been worsened by days of rain that have contributed to an estimated 1,000 landslides.

AFP