AKIPRESS.COM - At least nine people died when an earthquake struck Japan late Thursday, the Kumamoto Prefecture disaster management office said.

Search crews scrambled to dig through rubble in southern Japan, looking for people trapped under collapsed buildings.

The magnitude-6.2 quake struck near Ueki, the U.S. Geological Survey said. Dozens of smaller aftershocks followed.

"The ground shook for about 20 seconds before the 6.2-magnitude quake stopped," witness Lim Ting Jie said.

Two deaths occurred in Mashiki, the Kumamoto Prefecture office said. One person died in a collapsed house, and the other died in a fire caused by the quake, CNN reported. 

Nearly 800 people were injured, 50 severely. The prefecture office said 44,449 people had evacuated.

Gen Aoki, director of the Japan Meteorological Agency's earthquake division, warned more aftershocks could occur over the next week.