AN earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.1 shook southwestern Japan on Tuesday, the weather agency said, with several people likely injured.
Tsunami advisories were issued for the Ariake and Yatsushiro seas after the quake and were later lifted for both seas.
he focus of the 4:27 pm quake was in Kumamoto Prefecture at a depth of about 10 kilometres, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. The quake in the prefecture in the centre of the island of Kyushu registered the maximum 7 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale in Uki and Hikawa and upper 6 in surrounding areas.
The agency defines seismic intensity 7 as a level at which people cannot remain standing or move without crawling and may be thrown through the air.
The intensity of 7 was registered for the first time since January 2024, when a powerful quake struck the Noto Peninsula in central Japan.
The Uki Fire Department in Kumamoto Prefecture said it has been receiving continuous emergency calls, with multiple people possibly injured. It added that firefighters were assessing the situation after a fire broke out. Several people were believed to have been injured in the quake, while a power outage affected about 48,000 households in the prefecture, according to the local fire department and power company.
Kyodo
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