421 injured in Japanese quakes

Refrigerators and washing machines jumped away from walls, cabinets came crashing down and rooms were carpeted with broken glass as three powerful earthquakes injured 421 people, knocked out power grids and set off mudslides across rain-soaked northern Japan today.

“I just grabbed my kids and held on tight,” said Yoshiko Takaki, a young mother taking refuge with her two toddlers in a school gymnasium in Yamoto, a small town near the epicentre. “I thought the whole house was going to fall apart.”