7.1-magnitude earthquake strikes southwestern Japan: Tsunami warnings are issued
A major earthquake has struck Japan’s Kumamoto Prefecture, leading to tsunami advisories in several regions.
Tsunami warnings are in effect in several prefectures in Japan, after a powerful earthquake hit the Asian nation on Tuesday.
Where is the earthquake’s epicenter?
According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the earthquake struck in the southwestern Kumamoto Prefecture, located on Japan’s Kyushu Island, at around 4:30 p.m. local time (10:30 p.m. ET). Its epicenter, the agency said, was in the area around Uki City and Hikawa, and had a depth of 10 kilometers (six miles).
Tremors were measured at 7.1 in Uki and Hikawa, the JMA said. Shaking of between 5 and 6 on the Japanese scale was registered in numerous locations elsewhere in Kumamoto Prefecture, and in several surrounding prefectures.
Where are there tsunami warnings?
Per the JMA, tsunami advisories have been issued not only in Kumamoto Prefecture, but also in the neighboring Fukuoka, Saga and Nagasaki Prefectures.
Tsunami warnings affected the coastlines of the Ariake Sea and Yatsushiro Sea, the agency said. “Leave coastal areas immediately and stay away until the advisory is lifted,” the office of the Japanese prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, said in a post on the social-media platform X.
A decade on from major Kumamoto quake
Tuesday’s earthquake comes just over 10 years after another major quake in Kumamoto led to hundreds of deaths. On April 15, 2016, a 7.0-magnitude seismic event struck in the prefecture’s capital, Kumamoto City, killing nearly 300 people and leaving just over 2,800 injured.
Japan’s latest quake
Located in a highly active seismic area of the planet, Japan is one of the world’s most earthquake-prone countries, suffering around 1,500 per year. The country is estimated to account for one-firth of all global earthquakes of a magnitude of 6.0 or higher.
Japan suffered its worst ever earthquake in March 2011, a 9.1-magnitude event in the northeastern Tohoku region. The quake, and the tsunami it triggered, caused the deaths of more than 15,000 people, displaced over 100,000 residents, and led to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.
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