6.9 Magnitude Quake Hits Japan, No Casualty Reported
NEW DELHI, Jan 13L A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.9 has hit south-western Japan, the country’s Meteorological Agency said on Monday while warning the public to stay away from coastal areas because of a tsunami threat.
Tsunami advisories were issued for Miyazaki Prefecture, where the quake was centred, in the south-western island of Kyushu, as well as nearby Kochi Prefecture, shortly after the quake struck at 9.19 p.m. local time, according to the agency.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) warned of possible tsunami waves of up to one metre (three feet) and urged the public to stay away from coastal waters. “Tsunami can strike repeatedly. Please do not enter the sea or go near coastal areas,” the JMA said on X. Two small tsunamis of around 20 centimetres were detected at two ports in the region, the weather agency said.
There were no immediate reports of damage. Residents in the coastal city in Kochi were told to evacuate as a precautionary measure. The quake, centred at a depth of 30 km, shook a wide area in Kyushu, the south-western main island, Japan’s Meteorological Agency said.
Japan is frequently hit by earthquakes because of its location along the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin. Public Broadcaster NHK TV footage showed moving traffic and well-lit streets, meaning that electric power was still working. No problems were detected at the various monitoring posts for nuclear plants in the area.
Local media reported no immediate injuries, with live television feeds from the region on public broadcaster NHK showing no visible damage as well as calm seas, vessels operating and traffic running normally.
Sitting on top of four major tectonic plates along the western edge of the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” Japan is one of the world’s most tectonically active countries. The archipelago, home to around 125 million people, experiences around 1,500 jolts every year and accounts for around 18 percent of the world’s earthquakes. 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.
On New Year’s Day 2024 a 7.5-magnitude quake struck the Noto peninsula, killing nearly 470 people in Japan’s biggest jolt in over a decade, many of them elderly residents in the aftermath. Last August the JMA warned that the likelihood of a “megaquake” was higher than normal following a magnitude 7.1 jolt that injured 15 people.
That was a particular kind of tremor known as a subduction megathrust quake, which has occurred in pairs in the past and can unleash massive tsunamis. The advisory concerned the Nankai Trough, 800-kilometre undersea gully parallel to Japan’s Pacific coast, between two tectonic plates. The advisory was lifted after a week.
The JMA said Monday that it was probing possible links between the latest quake. Japan has strict construction regulations intended to ensure buildings can withstand strong earthquakes, and routinely holds emergency drills to prepare for a major jolt.
But the country is haunted by the memory of a massive 9.0-magnitude undersea quake off north-eastern Japan in March 2011, which triggered a tsunami that left around 18,500 people dead or missing. The 2011 tsunami also sent three reactors into meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant, causing Japan’s worst post-war disaster and the most serious nuclear accident since Chernobyl.
In March 2022, a 7.4-magnitude quake off the coast of Fukushima shook large areas of eastern Japan, killing three people. The capital Tokyo was devastated by a huge earthquake just over a century ago in 1923.
(Manas Dasgupta)
