Japan issues tsunami alert after 7.1-magnitude quake

n n

Japan issued a tsunami alert after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit the country’s southwest on Tuesday, knocking out power to thousands of households.

n

The tremor at 4:27 pm (0727 GMT) on the island of Kyushu also measured at the highest possible level seven on Japan’s own Shindo scale of shaking, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

n

The tsunami could measure up to one metre (three feet), the agency said.

n

Broadcaster NHK said that waves of up to that level may already have been recorded.

n

No immediate abnormalities were recorded at nuclear power plants, the Nuclear Regulation Authority said.

n

About 45,000 households and facilities have no power in the Kumamoto region, according to local utility Kyushu Electric Power.

n

The firm added that three nuclear reactors operating at the time in the region were continuing their normal operations.

n

Around half an hour after the quake, a local NHK staffer wearing a helmet reported live on air that the shaking was continuing, with the newsroom shaking so violently it was difficult to remain standing.

n

“Shaking is continuing as I speak. Including myself, there may be some people who feel their hearts racing,” he said.

n

“When the quake struck, the shaking was so big that I could not stand up. Please be aware of possibility that shaking might continue after this.”

n

History of quakes

n

In 2016, Kumamoto was hit two devastating earthquakes — one of magnitude 6.5, followed two days later by one of magnitude 7.3 — which killed 273 people and injured more than 2,800 others.

n

A quake with a magnitude of 7.2 hit northern Japan on June 25 but caused no deaths or major damage.

n

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”.

n

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.

n

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.

n

It is haunted by the memory of a massive 9.0-magnitude undersea quake in 2011, which triggered a tsunami that killed or left missing around 18,500 people and wrecked the Fukushima nuclear plant.

n

On April 20 this year, a tremor measuring 7.7 hit the country’s north, injuring at least 10 people and shaking large buildings in Tokyo.

n

This prompted authorities to issue a special advisory warning of an increased risk of earthquakes of magnitude 8.0 or stronger.

n

The advisory was lifted after a week.

n

AFP

n n