Troops called in after second deadly quake hits Japan

Agencies, Mashiki :Troops have been called in after a second, more powerful earthquake hit southern Japan, killing at least 32 people, toppling large buildings and causing a massive landslide just over a day after an earlier tremor left nine dead.Over 1,500 people have been injured, 80 of them seriously, by the two quakes on the southwestern Kyushu island, Yoshihide Suga, Japanese government spokesperson, said.Suga says the military will be boosted to 20,000 for rescue efforts. Police and firefighters are also being ordered to the southwestern region.Japanese media are also reporting the eruption of Mount Aso, the largest active volcano in Japan located on the island. That is the first eruption in a month.Rainfall was forecast to start pounding the area soon, threatening to further complicate the relief operation and set off more mudslides in isolated rural towns, where people were waiting to be rescued from collapsed homes.Kumamoto prefectural official Riho Tajima said the death toll stood at 22 from the magnitude-7.3 quake that shook the Kumamoto region on the southwestern island of Kyushu early Saturday. On Thursday night, Kyushu was hit by a magnitude-6.5 quake that left 10 dead.Japanese media reported that nearly 200,000 homes were without electricity, and that drinking water systems had also failed in the area. TV video showed people huddled in blankets, sitting or lying shoulder-to-shoulder on the floors of evacuation centers. An estimated 400,000 households were without running water.Hundreds of people lined up for rations at shelters before nightfall, bracing for the rainfall and strong winds. Local stores quickly ran out of stock and shuttered their doors, and people said they were worried about running out of food.”I could hear the noise of all my dishes come crashing down, the rattling, and I was shocked and sad, now I’ve lost all my dishes,” said Ayuko Sakamoto, who was among those in line for the food.Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said that 1,500 people had been injured in the quakes. Tajima said that 184 were injured seriously, and that more than 91,000 had been evacuated from their homes. More than 200 homes and other buildings were either destroyed or damaged, she said.Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed concern about secondary disasters, with forecasters predicting rain and strong winds for later in the day. With the soil already loosened by the quakes, rainfall can set off mudslides.”Daytime today is the big test” for rescue efforts, Abe said. Landslides have already cut off roads and destroyed bridges, slowing down rescuers.Police received reports of 97 cases of people trapped or buried under collapsed buildings, while 10 people were caught in landslides in three municipalities in the prefecture, Japan’s Kyodo News agency reported.