At least 29 people died and around 1,500 were injured after two earthquakes a day apart struck southern Japan. The second quake measuring 7.3 on the the Richter scale hit southern Japanese city of Kumamoto early on Saturday, while the southwestern part of the country was rocked by strong tremors of magnitude 6 on Thursday night, The Associated Press reported. While scores of people are feared trapped in debris, the exact number of casualties remain unclear as rescue operations continue. A tsunami warning was generated after the earthquake, but was recalled later.

The relatively shallow epicentres of both earthquakes led to more severe tremors, the Japanese Meteorological Agency explained. The quake triggered small volcanic eruption at Mount As, but the agency maintained its alert level at 2 out of 5 for the volcano. At least 80 of the 1,500 people were injured seriously, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said.

At least 19 houses collapsed after Thursday's earthquake. The region was hit by multiple aftershocks, according to reports, but no tsunami warning was issued. There were also no problems reported at nearby nuclear power plants. The epicentre of the quake was 11 km south of Kumamoto city, the United States Geological Survey had said.