TOKYO (From Jiji Press) -- Many major Japanese manufacturers suspended operations at their plants in Kumamoto Prefecture on Friday, the day after powerful earthquakes hit the prefecture, while some retail chains closed their outlets there.

Panasonic Corp. has halted the operations of its electronics parts plant in the town of Nagomi since Thursday night in order to examine a possible impact on production from quake-caused minor damage to buildings and facilities at the plant.

The company has confirmed the safety of all staff members and told them to stand by at home on Friday.

Among other electronics manufacturers, Sony Corp. shut down its smartphone graphic chip plant in the town of Kikuyo and still has no idea when production can be resumed there.

Mitsubishi Electric Corp. stopped operations at a semiconductor plant in the city of Koshi and a liquid crystal display panel plant in the city of Kikuchi, while Fujifilm Holdings Corp. closed its LCD panel parts plant in Kikuyo.

Honda Motor Co. suspended production at its motorcycle plant in the town of Ozu.

Toyota Motor Corp.'s vehicle assembly plant in the city of Miyawaka in Fukuoka Prefecture, which neighbors Kumamoto, will be closed throughout Friday because of delays in the supply of auto parts from nearby makers.

Among other manufacturers, Nippon Paper Industries Co., Oji Paper Co., Bridgestone Corp. and Suntory Holdings Ltd. stopped operations at their plants in Kumamoto Prefecture.

In the retail industry, convenience store operator Lawson Inc. closed six stores in the prefecture, partly due to quake-caused power outages. A consumer electronics retail store in the city of Kumamoto jointly run by Bic Camera Inc. and Kojima Co. was closed Friday.