Nine dead, nearly 1,000 hurt in Japan quake

The official death toll from a powerful earthquake that struck central Japan on Monday has risen to nine.

The official death toll from a powerful earthquake that struck central Japan on Monday has risen to nine.

Six women and three men, all in their 70s or 80s, died from injuries sustained in the earthquake, a National Police Agency spokesman said on Tuesday.

At least 979 people were hurt and taken to hospitals in Niigata and Nagano prefectures, the spokesman said, while local authorities separately said one person was still missing.

The quake, registering 6.8 on the Richter scale, hit northwest of Tokyo Monday morning, destroyed some 340 buildings, local authorities said.

It also damaged a major nuclear plant in the area, causing a fire and a leak of mildly radioactive water.

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