Tokyo, July 28: A 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck Kumamoto prefecture on Japan’s southern main island of Kyushu on Tuesday. The earthquake caused many buildings to collapse and several people were injured, Japanese Prime Minister Sane Takaichi said.
The epicenter of the earthquake was 10 kilometers below sea level, and the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) has advised coastal residents to move to higher ground as tsunami waves of up to 1 meter (3.28 feet) are possible along the coast. The Japanese government has issued an emergency earthquake warning for the prefectures of Kumamoto, Nagasaki, Kagoshima, Fukuoka, Saga, Oita and Miyazaki on the island of Kyushu.
Japan’s Nuclear Regulatory Authority has assured that no abnormalities have been found at the country’s nuclear power plants after this powerful earthquake. The Japanese Prime Minister’s Office, which has ordered an assessment of the damage to property, has instructed officials to take urgent action, saying, “Our top priority is to save lives.”
Series of earthquakes: Japan, located on the Pacific Ocean’s dangerous ‘Ring of Fire’, has been hit by a series of earthquakes this year. A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck on April 20 of this year, and a magnitude 7.2 tremor was recorded in northern Japan on June 25.
About 18 percent of the world’s earthquakes occur in Japan alone. This is mainly due to Japan’s location on four major tectonic plates.
2011 tsunami: A 9.0-magnitude undersea earthquake and tsunami in Japan in 2011 destroyed the Fukushima nuclear power plant, killing more than 18,500 people.