A magnitude 6.7 earthquake occurred on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido on Sept. 6, leaving at least seven dead and damaging buildings and structures in the region, including a 1,650MW coal-fired thermal power plant that was taken offline.
The quake struck east of the city of Tomakomai, and was only 70 km from the city of Sapporo, Hokkaido's largest city with a population of 1.9 million. The earthquake was 40 km deep according to Japan’s Meteorological Agency, which warned that aftershocks were expected to follow. The death toll stands at seven as of Sept. 7, with 300 injured and 33 still missing according to official government estimates. Numerous landslides were reported in the mountainous region in the hours after the quake, and there are reports of widespread damage to roads and transportation networks.