A house is collapsed after a strong earthquake hit in Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture, central Japan, on Nov. 22, 2014. The magnitude-6.8 earthquake struck the mountainous area of central Japan Saturday night, causing at least one building to collapse and injuring several people, according to Japanese media reports. No tsunami warning was issued. (AP Photo/Kyodo News)TOKYO – A strong earthquake late Saturday struck a mountainous area of central Japan that hosted the 1998 winter Olympics, knocking down at least 10 homes in a ski resort town and injuring more than 20 people, officials said.
The magnitude-6.8 earthquake struck near Nagano city shortly after 10 p.m. (1300 GMT) at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles), the Japan Meteorological Agency said. The U.S. Geological Survey measured the quake’s magnitude at 6.2. Since the quake occurred inland, there was no possibility of a tsunami.
Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority said no abnormalities were reported at three nuclear power plants in the affected areas. All of Japan’s nuclear plants are offline following a magnitude-9.0 earthquake and massive tsunami in 2011 that sent three reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant into meltdown. Fukushima is about 250 kilometers (155 miles) northeast of where Saturday’s earthquake occurred.
At least 22 people were injured, three of them seriously, in Nagano city, the Hakuba ski resort and elsewhere, the National Polilce Agency told Japan’s Kyodo news agency.
“We are trying to assess the situation as quickly as possible, and we’ll do our utmost for the rescue of the injured people,” Japan’s top government spokesman, Yoshihide Suga, told reporters.