TOKYO (Reuters) - Sony said that it will extend the closure of its image sensor plant in southern Japan, which was hit again by a powerful earthquake early on Saturday.

Sony said the closure will affect its image sensor plant in Kumamoto, and operations at its image sensor plant in Nagasaki, also in the southern Japanese island of Kyushu, will be partially suspended.

A magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck southern Japan early on Saturday, killing at least 24 people, injuring hundreds more and trapping people in collapsed buildings, media reported, a day after a quake killed nine people in the same region.

(Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; Writing by Shinichi Saoshiro; Editing by Eric Meijer)