An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.1 struck Japan’s southern Kumamoto prefecture on Tuesday, knocking out power to thousands of homes, stopping rail services and triggering warnings for tsunamis and aftershocks. The Japanese government issued emergency earthquake warnings for Kumamoto, Nagasaki, Kagoshima, Fukuoka, Saga, Oita, and Miyazaki prefectures, all on Japan's southern Kyushu island. TOKYO (AP) — An earthquake registering a preliminary magnitude of 7.1 shook Kumamoto on Japan’s southern main island of Kyushu late Tuesday afternoon and a tsunami advisory was issued, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
The agency said the tsunami advisory was for the nearby Ariake bay on the western coasts of Kumamoto, about 900 kilometers (560 miles) southwest of Tokyo. Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, in a message posted on X, urged residents to avoid the coastline where a tsunami of up to 1 meter (3 feet) was predicted. She said her government has set up a task force to gather information, assess possible damage and prepare for rescue operations if needed.
“We are putting people’s lives as the top priority,” Takaichi said, urging residents in the strongly-shaken areas to use caution in light of possible strong aftershocks. Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency said there were no reports of damage to major public facilities and infrastructure in the region, though authorities were still assessing the extent of damage from the quake. Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority said no abnormalities were found at three nearby nuclear power plants from the temblor.
Shinkansen bullet trains and local trains in Kyushu have been suspended temporarily for safety checks. The Japanese Defense Ministry said it dispatched aircraft to the area to assess the situation. Kumamoto was hit with a deadly quake in 2016 that left more than 50 people dead, 1,800 injured and tens of thousands of homes damaged or destroyed.
Reporters watch news coverage of a powerful earthquake and a possible 1m tsunami in southern Japan from an office in Tokyo. (AFP pic)TOKYO: A strong 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit southwestern Japan on Tuesday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said, issuing a tsunami alert."The tremor at 4.27 pm on the island of Kyushu was also measured at the highest possible level seven on Japan's own Shindo scale of shaking," the agency said."The tsunami could measure up to 1m and arrive at around 5pm," it said.Broadcaster NHK said that waves of up to that level may already have been recorded.A quake with a magnitude of 7.2 hit northern Japan on June 25 but caused no deaths or major damage.Japan is one of the world's most seismically active countries, sitting on top of four major tectonic plates along the western edge of the Pacific "Ring of Fire".The archipelago, home to around 125 million people, typically experiences hundreds of jolts every year and accounts for about 18 percent of the world's earthquakes.The vast majority are mild, although the damage they cause varies according to their location and the depth below the Earth's surface at which they strike.It is haunted by the memory of a massive 9.0-magnitude undersea quake in 2011, which triggered a tsunami that killed or left missing around 18,500 people and wrecked the Fukushima nuclear plant.On April 20 this year, a tremor measuring 7.7 hit the country's north, injuring at least 10 people and shaking large buildings in Tokyo.This prompted authorities to issue a special advisory warning of an increased risk of earthquakes of magnitude 8.0 or stronger.The advisory was lifted after a week. Japan's south-western Kyushu island has been struck by two strong earthquakes within an hour, sparking warnings of a tsunami wave of up to 1 metre.
An earthquake registering a preliminary magnitude of 7.1 shook Kumamoto on Japan's southern main island of Kyushu and a tsunami advisory was issued, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. The quake struck near the coastal city of Uki in southern Japan. There were no immediate reports of damage.
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