A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.1 shook the Kumamoto area in southern Japan this Tuesday, according to data from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). The earthquake has left about 40,000 homes without electricity and has caused transportation disruptions, evacuation orders, and alerts for possible aftershocks. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi reports that some injuries have been recorded and the situation is being assessed.
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The authorities of the Asian country had initially issued a tsunami alert for a one-meter wave. This threat has now been downgraded and there is no longer a risk of a tsunami for the country’s coast, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, which belongs to the United States.
Emergency seismic alerts have also been extended to other prefectures. In addition to Kumamoto, Nagasaki, Kagoshima, Fukuoka, Saga, Oita, and Miyazaki, all located on the island of Kyushu.
Japan is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world, with a seismic event at least every five minutes. Located along the so-called Ring of Fire of volcanoes and ocean trenches that partially surround that region of the Pacific Ocean, Japan accounts for about 20% of the world’s earthquakes of magnitude 6.0 or higher.
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When this type of tremor occurs, one of the main concerns in the Asian country is usually its nuclear power plants, especially since the nuclear accident at the Fukushima plant on March 11, 2011. That event, the worst at a nuclear power plant since Chernobyl, in the former Soviet Union, now in Ukraine, took place after a magnitude 9 earthquake triggered a tsunami.
After Tuesday’s tremor, Kyushu Electric Power stated that no irregularities had been recorded at its Sendai and Genkai nuclear power plants. The railway company JR Kyushu, which serves the island, has indicated that it has suspended its services, including its Shinkansen high-speed trains, following the earthquake.
