A massive earthquake struck southern Japan. A quake with a magnitude of 7.1 occurred on Tuesday in Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu. The Japan Meteorological Agency reported that the earthquake’s epicenter was at a depth of 10 kilometers below sea level. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi stated that several people were injured and a building collapsed due to the earthquake.
Japan issued tsunami warnings following the earthquake. Officials alerted the public to the possibility of waves reaching up to one meter in height; waves of up to one meter have reportedly been recorded in some areas. The Prime Minister ordered an immediate assessment of the damage and directed that saving lives be given top priority during relief operations. Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority stated that there was no impact on nuclear power plants. Emergency earthquake warnings were issued for Kumamoto as well as the prefectures of Nagasaki, Kagoshima, Fukuoka, Saga, Oita, and Miyazaki.
Earlier, on June 25, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck northern Japan. Japan is known as one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world. The region lies within the highly active “Ring of Fire” in the Pacific Ocean, where four major tectonic plates converge beneath the earth’s surface. Consequently, hundreds of earthquakes occur there every year. In 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake triggered a massive tsunami, resulting in the deaths of 18,500 people. At the same time, the Fukushima nuclear power plant was severely damaged.
