A powerful earthquake hit wide areas of Hokkaido last Thursday, which is Japan’s northernmost main island. The island’s largest city of Sapporo was hit at 3:08 a.m.
The 6.7-magnitude quake injured over 150 people and killed at least seven. It triggered dozens of landslides, cracked roads and buried vehicles in several feet of mud. Almost three million people were left without electricity due to an emergency shut-down of the main power plant.
The Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, pledged to send 25,000 troops to assist rescue efforts.
Difficult words: trigger (start), dozens (many), due to (because of), pledge (promise something).