Four killed, 90 hurt in aftershock

FOUR people were killed and at least 93 injured when a powerful 7.1 aftershock struck northeastern Japan.

A 63-year-old woman in Yamagata prefecture died after her respirator failed when the power was knocked out by the tremor, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.

"Her respiratory equipment was found turned off. We believe the machine was turned off due to the outage," an agency spokesman said.

The agency said two other people also died in Miyagi prefecture -- the area worst hit by the 9.0-magnitude quake of March 11 and the tsunami that followed.

NHK identified the victims as a 79-year-old man who was found unconscious after the quake and confirmed dead after he was taken to the hospital, and an 85-year-old man. The details of the second man's death were not immediately known.

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