MASHIKI, Japan — A still shocked resident from a town in southern Japan recounted his terror the previous night as he examined the damage today from a powerful earthquake that brought down buildings and left nine people dead.

“It’s as if all control was lost, I thought I was going to die and I couldn’t bear it any longer,” said Yuichiro Yoshikado, who was taking a bath in his apartment in the hardest-hit town of Mashiki.