'Considerable' number of people dead in Japan mall after quake: broadcaster
A strong 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit southwestern Japan
Last updated 1pm.
A 'considerable' number of people were killed in a shopping mall after a powerful earthquake hit southwestern Japan on Tuesday, broadcaster TBS said.
The 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit at 4:27 pm (0727 GMT) on the island of Kyushu and was also measured at the highest possible level seven on Japan's own Shindo scale of shaking, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
The Japanese prime minister said there had been injuries and building collapses, but no tsunami, despite a tsunami alert having been issued.
"This earthquake occurred inland, and no tsunami activity has been observed so far. For this reason, we hope to lift the tsunami advisory at a relatively early stage, depending on future sea level conditions," a Japan Meteorological Agency spokesperson said.
People trapped in damaged shopping mall
Broadcaster NHK reported that "many people" were trapped inside the shopping mall damaged by the earthquake.
Police said earlier they had received reports of what sounded like an explosion at the Aeon Mall outlet.
In "Kashima town, a shopping complex's second floor collapsed, leaving many people trapped inside," the fire department said in a statement.
No immediate abnormalities at nuclear plants
No immediate abnormalities were reported at nuclear power plants, the Nuclear Regulation Authority said.
Local utility firm Kyushu Electric Power said that three nuclear power reactors operating in the region when the quake struck were continuing their normal operations.
A quake with a magnitude of 7.2 hit northern Japan on June 25 but caused no deaths or major damage.
Japan is one of the world's most seismically active countries, sitting on top of four major tectonic plates along the western edge of the Pacific "Ring of Fire".
The archipelago, home to around 125 million people, typically experiences hundreds of jolts every year and accounts for about 18 percent of the world's earthquakes.
The vast majority are mild, although the damage they cause varies according to their location and the depth below the Earth's surface at which they strike.
It is haunted by the memory of a massive 9.0-magnitude undersea quake in 2011, which triggered a tsunami that killed or left missing around 18,500 people and wrecked the Fukushima nuclear plant.
On April 20 this year, a tremor measuring 7.7 hit the country's north, injuring at least 10 people and shaking large buildings in Tokyo.
This prompted authorities to issue a special advisory warning of an increased risk of earthquakes of magnitude 8.0 or stronger.
The advisory was lifted after a week.