Strong quake kills 9, injures

more than 800 in Japan

KUMAMOTO, Japan (AP) – At least nine people were killed and more than 800 injured by a magnitude 6.5 earthquake that toppled houses and buckled roads in southern Japan, the government’s chief spokesman said Friday.

Yoshihide Suga said he would visit the area, 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) southwest of Tokyo, to assess the damage.

He said 1,600 soldiers had been deployed, and TV reports showed some delivering blankets and adult diapers to the thousands of people who took shelter because their homes were wrecked or unsafe.

About 44,000 people sought refuge, though some returned home in the morning.

The quake struck at 9:26 p.m. Thursday at a depth of 11 kilometers (7 miles) near Kumamoto city on the island of Kyushu, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. There was no tsunami risk.

Russia rejects criticism of

fly-by near U.S. Navy destroyer

MOSCOW (AP) – Russia’s defense ministry has rejected complaints by U.S. officials who said Russian attack planes buzzed dangerously close to a U.S. Navy destroyer in the Baltic Sea this week.

The U.S. European command says the Russian planes buzzed a U.S. ship multiple times Monday and Tuesday in what the U.S. officials described as an unsafe and unprofessional manner.

Secretary of State John Kerry told CNN Espanol that under U.S. military rules of engagement, the Navy ship could have opened fire. He condemned the Russian actions.

Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the Russian defense ministry, said Thursday that the pilots of Russian Su-24 jets saw the ship and turned back “while using all measures of precaution.” Konashenkov said he was baffled by what he described as the “distressed reaction of our American counterparts.”

The U.S. European Command statement on Wednesday said officials are using diplomatic channels to address the matter.