Two people died Sunday afternoon after a landslide was triggered by heavy rain on remote Rebun Island, off the northwest coast of Hokkaido, municipal officials said.
The two residents of the town of Rebun died when the landslide destroyed their home, the officials said, adding landslides also occurred in other parts of the town, with residents evacuating to an elementary school and other shelters.
Over the 24-hour period from 1:40 p.m. Saturday, 183 mm of rain fell in the town, the most since record-keeping began in 2003, according to the Sapporo branch of the Meteorological Agency.