A 6.6-magnitude quake rocked Japan, with witnesses describing three minutes of terror

A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck Japan's northern island of Hokkaido at about 3 a.m. Thursday morning, triggering massive landslides. Landslides along a ridge in the town of Atsuma wiped out several homes. Seven people have been confirmed dead, with 300 injured and about 33 missing on the island of 5.3 million people. Nearly 3 million buildings lost power after the quake rocked the island. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said 25,000 troops had been deployed to assist in rescue operations in Hokkaido. The power losses left thousands in the dark. Officials warned of the risk of further quakes. The Tomari nuclear power plant in Hokkaido, which was not operational before the quake, was forced to turn to emergency back-up power to keep its cooling system working. The Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Hiroshige Seko told reporters that the extensive power outage was caused by an emergency shutdown of the main thermal power plant that supply half of the electricity to all of Hokkaido. The public transit, including all high-speed Shinkansen and local trains, have been suspended. Flights have also been grounded. The epicenter of the quake was about 16 miles from the Hokkaido's main airport in the city of Chitose. Thursday's earthquake comes less than a day after a powerful typhoon killed at least 11 people in western Japan.