Crews search for missing after quake

KURIHARA, Japan (AP) — Rescue squads and military helicopters raced to find 11 people missing after an earthquake in mountainous northern Japan sent hillsides crashing down Saturday, killing at least six and injuring more than 140.

The 7.2-magnitude quake triggered several major landslides, blocking roads and stranding about 100 bathers at a hot spring resort. Crews searching for the missing had to hike mountain trails and dig their way to the worst-hit areas.

“It was the worst quake I have ever felt,” said Rinji Sato, whose grocery store in this town near the epicenter was a mess of shattered bottles and food thrown from shelves. “We were just lucky this didn’t hit a big city.”

Officials said at least 144 people were injured, a number that would surely have been higher if the quake had hit a more heavily populated area. Sato described the temblor as a sharp vertical jolt followed by a powerful sideways swaying.

“It was impossible to stay on your feet,” he said.

The government responded quickly, mobilizing troops, police and fire department rescue teams to find and care for the injured and to recover the dead.

“Our most important task is to save as many lives as possible, and we are doing the best we can,” Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said.

Access, however, was a major obstacle.

The quake — followed by more than 150 aftershocks — buckled roads, including one highway that was severed when a stretch of land collapsed, turning it into a sudden drop-off. Trains also were halted throughout most of the region while workers checked the safety of the tracks.

Hundreds of people in several isolated towns with disrupted roads were waiting for rescuers to arrive more than 12 hours after the quake.

“We’re getting growing reports of damage, but we can’t even get out there to assess the situation with roads closed off because of landslides,” said city official Norio Sato in Kurihara, one of the worst-hit cities in northern Miyagi.

Seven people at Komanoyu hot springs were missing and believed buried after a landslide hit the resort, said another Kurihara city official, Katsuyuki Sato. An additional 100 or so people were stranded but safe.