Toyota : quakes to force production stoppages

Toyota Motor Corp. says it will shut down the assembly of vehicles in Japan over the course of this week because of parts shortages stemming from the two strong earthquakes that hit the southern part of the country.

The world's biggest automaker posted the announcement on its website, ABC News reported on Sunday.

The shutdown will begin on Monday at a factory in Kyushu and progress to other plants in Japan through Friday. Toyota said resumption of operations would depend on the availability of parts.

The earthquakes, which struck Thursday night and overnight Friday, have driven 180,000 people to shelters. Some of the damaged areas are in hard-to-reach mountain areas that have been cut off by landslides blocking roads and bridges that have collapsed.