A strong earthquake hit southern Japan Thursday evening, toppling at least 19 houses and potentially trapping individuals under the rubble.
The Japanese Red Cross Kumamoto Hospital told ABC News it admitted 45 injured people. Five had serious wounds. Police have not yet confirmed casualties.
The quake was measured at a preliminary magnitude of 6.4, the strongest earthquake to hit the are since 2011. No tsunami warning was issued.
This is what a fixed camera in Kumamoto recorded during the 6.4M earthquake in Japan pic.twitter.com/JKjdx4xKxG
— Anna Fifield (@annafifield) April 14, 2016
Major aftershocks and fires in Kumamoto, southern Japan, after 6.4 magnitude earthquake pic.twitter.com/f8ukbQpbXT
— Anna Fifield (@annafifield) April 14, 2016
This is how people on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu are reporting feeling after big quake, aftershocks pic.twitter.com/j0iwwm2CNt
— Anna Fifield (@annafifield) April 14, 2016
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told ABC that the extent of the earthquake’s damage is still unclear "because of the night darkness."
"There was a ka-boom and the whole house shook violently sideways," Takahiko Morita, a Mashiki resident, said in a phone interview with Japanese broadcaster NHK. "Furniture and bookshelves fell down, and books were all over the floor."
Local media reported that violent shaking at the epicenter lasted roughly 30 seconds.