A massive earthquake has struck Japan’s southern region and a tsunami warning has been issued, the National Meteorological Administration said.
The magnitude 7.1 earthquake was recorded at 10:43 a.m. today, with the last tremors of magnitude 4.1 noticed at 11:52 a.m. The epicentre of the earthquake is located in the Hyuga-Nada Sea, it washes the eastern coast of Kyushu Island. The source lies at a depth of 30 kilometres under the sea bottom.
Powerful tsunamis with wave heights of up to 1 metre were announced to hit the coasts of Kagoshima, Kochi, Miyazaki, Oita and Ehime prefectures at 10:50 a.m. The first metre-high waves reached Ehime Prefecture from the Uwa Sea at 11:10 a.m., the meteorological office said. The waves are now approaching the islands of Tanegashima and Yakushima.
No casualties and damage caused by the earthquake have been reported yet. The movement of high-speed express trains “shinkansen” has been suspended in southern Japan.
On August 7, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.9 was registered with an epicentre near the islands of Kyushu and Shikoku.
Japan is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a line of seismic faults girdling the Pacific Ocean, and is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world. The January 1 earthquake in Japan’s north-central Noto region killed more than 240 people.
