At least nine people have been declared dead and hundreds were injured after a 6-magnitude earthquake struck southwestern Japan on Thursday. The strong tremors brought down some buildings, and at least 400 people were taken to hospital, local media said. However, nearby nuclear power plants were reportedly unharmed, and no tsunami warning was issued, Reuters reported.

Some 44,400 people had been evacuated, and more than 100 aftershocks were felt since the quake hit around 9.26 pm (local time), according to Kyodo news agency. Japanese television channel NHK aired footage of firefighters dousing a blaze in a building in Mashiki, a town located close to Kumamoto, the epicentre of the temblor. People were huddled in parking lots and other open spaces for fear of further building collapses.

Honda Motor Co., Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and Bridgestone Corp. were among companies that suspended operations at their factories near the epicentre, Kyodo news agency reported. Operations of some high-speed trains were also halted as a precaution after the earthquake. It was reportedly the strongest one to occur in Japan since the 2011 quake of magnitude 9, which triggered a powerful tsunami, left nearly 16,000 people dead and more than two lakh people displaced.