By A powerful series of earthquakes struck off southern Japan on Thursday, starting with a 6.9-magnitude quake followed by a 7.1 tremor, as reported by the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The local meteorological agency issued tsunami warnings, cautioning coastal areas of impending waves.
According to broadcaster NHK, tsunamis up to one meter high were expected or had already arrived in some coastal areas of Kyushu and Shikoku islands. The Japan Meteorological Agency advised residents via X, formerly Twitter, “Tsunamis will strike repeatedly. Please do not enter the sea or approach the coast until the warning is lifted.”
There were no immediate reports of damage. The USGS detailed that the initial quake occurred at 4:42 PM at a depth of 33 kilometers, approximately 29 kilometers southeast of Miyazaki on Kyushu. The subsequent tremor hit less than a minute later at a depth of 26 kilometers, located 20 kilometers northeast of Miyazaki.
In response to the quakes, the Japanese government established a special task force. Japan, situated on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” is one of the most tectonically active countries in the world, sitting atop four major tectonic plates. The nation experiences around 1,500 earthquakes annually, accounting for roughly 18% of the world’s earthquakes.
The archipelago, home to approximately 125 million people, is well-prepared with stringent construction regulations to ensure buildings can endure strong quakes, and routine emergency drills are conducted. However, the memory of the devastating 9.0-magnitude undersea earthquake in March 2011, which triggered a tsunami and resulted in around 18,500 deaths or missing persons, still looms large.
Earlier this year, on New Year’s Day, a massive earthquake claimed at least 260 lives on the peninsula, including 30 “quake-linked” deaths in addition to those directly caused by the disaster.
