A magnitude 7.2 earthquake has hit the region of Tohoku, a rural area of Northern Japan, killing nine people, injuring over 200, triggering land slides with reports of a bridge destroyed by the quake, several press reports. Mainichi Shinbun reports many land slides happened in mountainous areas, cutting down roads and several neighborhoods are separated from the others.       
The quake struck at 8:43 am local time, located about 5 miles (8 km) underground, approximately 280 miles (451 km) north of Tokyo in the northern prefecture of Iwate, which was felt as far away as the Capital. Mainichi indicated that Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures are severely damaged so that both governors invoke Disaster Aid Act to be effective in  Ichinoseki and Kurikoma respectively.    
Japan is particularly prone to earthquakes due its position on the Ring of Fire as well as being made of volcanic islands. An earthquake last year caused a radioactive leak from the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant. 

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Northern Japan hit by strong quake