At least 6 die in Japan quake

At least six people have died in the earthquake that struck northern Japan early Saturday morning. The earthquake was initially measured at 6.9 by the USGS but later upgraded to 7.2 on the Richter scale. A further after shock measuring 5.5 also struck the area less than an hour after the initial tremor which triggered landslides in the rural mountainous region of Honshu. Military helicopters have ferried the inured to hospitals and officials are checking a nuclear power station for damage after a small amount of radioactive water leaked from the facility at Fukushima. An earthquake last year in central Japan caused a small radioactive leak from the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant. Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said, "Our most important task is to save as many lives as possible, and we are doing the best we can." At least 140 have been injured in the earthquake and rescuers are continuing to pull others from rubble of fallen buildings and landslides [BBC / CNN].