An earthquake registering a magnitude of seven.1 shook Kumamoto on Japan’s southern essential island of Kyushu late Tuesday afternoon, causing damage and injuries, officials said. A tsunami advisory was temporarily issued but was lifted inside two hours, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
The agency said the tsunami advisory covered the nearby Ariake and Yatsushiro Seas on the western coasts of Kumamoto, Nagasaki, Fukuoka and Saga prefectures about 900 kilometers (560 miles) southwest of Tokyo.
The U.S. Geological Survey initially said the earthquake had a magnitude of seven.1, but revised it later to six.8.
Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, in a message posted on X, said her government has arrange a task force to assemble information, assess possible damage and prepare for rescue operations if needed.
Takaichi later told reporters that there have been reports of a variety of injuries and damages to roads, bridges and buildings, in addition to blackouts and fire, though details are still unclear. Takaichi warned people cooking to watch out with fire and with shards of broken glass.
Kyodo News agency said a hospital in Yatsushiro city accepted about 40 individuals with injuries from the quake. A train was derailed and fell on its side on the Yatsushiro station, and stone partitions were damaged on the Kumamoto castle, Kyodo said.
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Yozo Kai, a priest at a Shinto shrine within the nearby town of Mashiki, said just a few stone lanterns fell down. “I apprehensive if the essential hall and the gate would tilt again,” he told Kyodo.
“The shaking jogged my memory of the Kumamoto quake (10 years ago) and I used to be frightened,” said Hiroki Shimoda, an official on the Mifune town hall, who saw rooftiles of nearby homes crash right down to the bottom.
Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency said there have been no reports of injury to major public facilities and infrastructure, though authorities were still assessing the extent of injury. Local fire departments received many emergency calls reporting fires and damage to homes.
“We’re putting people’s lives as the highest priority,” Takaichi said, urging residents within the strongly shaken areas to make use of caution in light of possible aftershocks.
Shinji Kiyomoto, JMA’s Earthquake and Tsunami Countermeasures planning officer, told a news conference that the shallow earthquake was triggering energetic seismic activity in the realm, urging residents to especially be cautious over the following two to a few days. He said, nonetheless, that no tsunami was observed from the inland quake.
Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority said no abnormalities were found at three nearby nuclear power plants.
Shinkansen bullet trains and native trains in Kyushu have been suspended for safety checks, while the runway on the Aso Kumamoto Airport was closed, with “no prospect of resuming operations” in accordance with a notice on the airport’s website.
The Japanese Defence Ministry said it dispatched aircraft to the realm to evaluate the situation.
Kumamoto was hit with a deadly quake in 2016 that left greater than 50 people dead, 1,800 injured and tens of hundreds of homes damaged or destroyed.
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