Tokyo — Rescuers scrabbled through mud for survivors on Thursday after a powerful earthquake sent hillsides crashing onto homes in Japan, killing at least nine people and leaving dozens missing. As many as 30 are feared buried beneath the rubble of multiple, large-scale landslides that struck the sparsely populated countryside on the northern island of Hokkaido after a 6.6-magnitude earthquake. Aerial footage showed wrecked farm buildings at the bottom of a hill as rescue helicopters whirred overhead in a region already affected by the edge of a strong typhoon that ravaged parts of Japan earlier in the week. The quake left almost 3-million people without power after damage to a major thermal plant supplying the region, with industry minister Hiroshige Seko saying it could take "at least a week" to restore supply.
Long lines formed outside petrol stations and supermarkets as residents dug in and authorities warned that further quakes could be on the way. Kazuo Kibayashi, an off...
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