Tokyo, July 28 -- A powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.1 has struck Kumamoto prefecture on Japan's southern main island of Kyushu. The epicenter of the tremors was at a depth of 10 kilometers below the sea surface, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said. Authorities have issued a tsunami warning, with waves of up to one meter (3.28 feet) expected. Residents in coastal areas have been urged to move to higher ground and follow official evacuation instructions. Broadcaster NHK said that waves of up to that level may already have been recorded. The Japanese prime minister's office has instructed the authorities to assess the state of affairs regarding damage as soon as possible. The government also instructed authorities to prioritise human life above all else and spare no effort in emergency disaster response. The Japanese government issued emergency earthquake warnings for Kumamoto, Nagasaki, Kagoshima, Fukuoka, Saga, Oita, and Miyazaki prefectures, all on Japan's southern Kyushu island.
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.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.