Aftershock rocks Japan island

Infrastructure damage means evacuation is made harder

A strong aftershock shook the Japanese island of Hokkaido early on Saturday as residents began the task of clearing up after Friday's major earthquake.

Seismologists in Tokyo have warned that Hokkaido residents should prepare the possibility of another big tremor in the coming days.

"There is a 10% possibility that such a big one [up to magnitude 7] will occur in three days from now and a 20% possibility in seven days," an earthquake division official told AFP news agency.

"There is a 70% chance that aftershocks with magnitude of six or higher could hit the region in the next three days," he said.

The earthquake division says 53 aftershocks were recorded in the area in 32 hours after the powerful quake on Friday - one of magnitude six which rattled Hokkaido's south-eastern coast early on Saturday.

Two people are still missing and more than 500 are reported injured following Friday's tremor.

The epicentre was located about 80 kilometres (50 miles) offshore and 42 kilometres (30 miles) below sea-level.

Hokkaido - the second largest of Japan's four main islands - is about the size of Austria and has a population of more than five million.

Rescue operation

The two men went missing while fishing in a river hours after the massive quake hit the northern island before dawn on Friday.

Officials fear they may have been washed away by tidal waves.

Police and coastguards scrambled three patrol boats, two helicopters and more than 200 officials to search for them.

People woke to find chaos in homes and shops

"We have no clues as to their whereabouts so far," a Hokkaido police spokesman said.

He added 504 people had been injured in the quake and its aftershocks including powerful ones on Saturday at 0538 (2038GMT Friday) and 1706 (0806GMT), measuring 6.0 and 5.2 respectively.

"40 people have sustained heavy injuries," the spokesman said.

Clean-up

A government team has visited the region to assess damages and more than 200 people who were evacuated have returned to inspect their homes.

Masahiro Watanabe, head of the village hall in nearby Toyokoro, said evacuees looked stressful as they were startled by continued aftershocks.

"The residents returned to their homes to clean up the mess, and we expect many of them will come back to this shelter tonight," he said.

The quake sparked a fire at an oil depot

Construction workers began repair work on main roads and divers searched the Tokachi port in Hiroo, the town closest to the epicentre, to look for missing cars thought to have been pulled into the sea by tidal waves.

Fishing boats moored in the harbour sustained some damage and railway services were suspended near Kushiro, south-eastern Hokkaido.

Water outages are continuing to affect about 10,000 households in the Hidaka and Tokachi regions, officials said.