KURIHARA (Japan), June 14: A powerful earthquake tore up hills, fields and roads in northern Japan on Saturday, killing at least six people, injuring around 100 more and trapping guests at a levelled resort hotel.

The earthquake, which measured 7.2 on the Richter scale, also caused a small leak of radioactive water from a power plant, although the company said there was no cause for public concern.

Japan deployed nearly 800 troops to the largely agricultural region in Miyagi and Iwate prefectures, where military helicopters plucked to safety residents, many of them elderly, who were suddenly cut off from the world.

Landslides snapped highways, which abruptly turned into cliffs of falling mud and dirt, and clogged rivers to create a series of ‘quake lakes.’ “I was driving my car when the earthquake hit,” said Makoto Katsurashima, 72. “I just turned white as I saw the road disappear before my eyes a few metres (yards) away.”—AFP