Strong quake hits central Japan, five people feared trapped November 23, 2014 - 2:28AM 25 reading now A wall at a hostel in Kangding, south-west China's Sichuan province, collapsed when the quake hit. Tokyo: A strong 6.2 magnitude earthquake has struck central Japan, the US Geological Survey says, with Japanese media reporting at least five people are feared trapped under collapsed houses. The quake struck on Saturday night with its epicentre at a depth of 10km in the north of Nagano Prefecture, northwest of Tokyo, according to USGS. Japan Meteorological Agency measured the quake at magnitude 6.8. The quake toppled several houses in Nagano, with broadcaster NHK saying rescuers feared five people were trapped under the rubble. There was no immediate confirmation of casualties as police and municipal officials said they were scrambling to collect information. "We are trying to confirm any casualties or damage," a spokesman at the Nagano prefectural police told AFP by telephone. There was no damage to any of the seven nuclear reactors at the sprawling Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in neighbouring Niigata prefecture as they have been offline since 2011, NHK quoted the operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., as saying. Japan is hit by around a fifth of the world's powerful quakes every year and sits at the conjunction of several tectonic plates.