At least 18 people have been killed in a powerful earthquake that struck Japan's northern island of Hokkaido in the wee hours of Thursday.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga was quoted by The Japan Times as saying that there were 18 confirmed fatalities, while 24 others are still missing. In Atsuma, rescuers searched manually and used heavy machinery to dig through the rubble to find survivors. The Japanese government said that all the missing people are located in the town.

The Japan Meteorological Agency has warned of heavy rain, with chances of mudslides in  Hokkaido on Saturday. The weather department added that aftershocks of a similar intensity to yesterday's 6.7 earthquake may occur again.

(featured image:Toronto Start)