TOKYO – A strong earthquake of magnitude 6.2 has dozens injured Saturday night in Japan, Nagano Prefecture, causing significant damage in a ski resort whose houses collapsed in shock.

The government said in a statement Sunday morning that a total of 39 injured had been identified for the time being, seven serious. He had previously reported 57 injured, 2 serious but corrected later.

“Immediately after the occurrence of this earthquake, we have set up a crisis unit to gather information. The Prime Minister has ordered that everything be done to that priority be given to the rescue and safety of citizens, “said the spokesman of the government, Yoshihide Suga.

In the village of Hakuba, a mountain resort that hosted the events of the Winter Olympics in 1998, thirty people were buried under the rubble of houses but all were rescued, according to Japanese agencies.
Some public facilities were also vandalized. However, given the strength of shaking damage occurs actually quite limited.

Police and city officials stressed that relief continued their research.

The earthquake took place Saturday at 22 h 08 local time (8 am 08, Montreal time) with a shallow depth of 10 kilometers. Its magnitude was measured at 6.2 by the American Institute of Geophysics (USGS), 6.8 by the Japanese weather agency.

No tsunami was observed.

Power cuts hit of 1600 dwellings and part of the railway traffic was interrupted.

High-speed trains “Shinkansen” of the region were stopped after shaking.