A powerful, deadly earthquake struck Japan early today, killing a 52-year-old woman and injuring 80 others as it shook buildings and triggered a small tsunami that hit the coast.

A surgeon is suspected of causing the deaths of seven patients at a Japanese hospital by removing their respirators, it was reported today.

JAPAN’S deadliest typhoon in more than two decades killed 66 people, news reports said yesterday as rescuers searched frantically for 22 still missing in floods and landslides.