Earthquake of magnitude 7.1 strikes Japan's Kumamoto prefecture, tsunami warning issued
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Earthquake of magnitude 7.1 strikes Japan's Kumamoto prefecture, tsunami warning issued")
Representative image. Photograph: (Magnific)
The Japanese government also issued emergency earthquake warnings for Kumamoto, Nagasaki, Kagoshima, Fukuoka, Saga, Oita, and Miyazaki prefectures, all on the southern Kyushu island of the country.
An earthquake of magnitude 7.1 struck in the Kumamoto region of Japan on Tuesday (July 28), along with a seismic intensity of 6 or lower in the Amakusa and Ashikita areas, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said. After the earthquake, a tsunami warning was issued by JMA for a wave measuring 1 metre (3.28 ft).
In addition, the Japanese government issued emergency earthquake warnings for Kumamoto, Nagasaki, Kagoshima, Fukuoka, Saga, Oita, and Miyazaki prefectures, all on the southern Kyushu island of the country.
Following the quake, the Japanese prime minister's office has directed officials to assess the state of affairs related to damage as soon as possible. The government also asked officials to prioritise human life above everything else, sparing no effort in emergency disaster response.
Authorities confirmed that no immediate irregularities were detected at nuclear power facilities following Tuesday's earthquake in southwestern Japan. According to the Nuclear Regulation Authority, no abnormalities were reported at nuclear plants after the 7.1-magnitude quake struck.
Japan as the home of earthquakes
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Japan ranks among the most seismically active nations globally, positioned atop four major tectonic plates along the western rim of the Pacific "Ring of Fire." With a population of roughly 125 million, the archipelago typically experiences hundreds of tremors annually and accounts for approximately 18 per cent of earthquakes worldwide.
While most of these quakes are minor, the extent of damage they cause depends largely on their location and depth beneath Earth's surface. The country still carries the weight of the devastating 9.0-magnitude undersea earthquake in 2011, which unleashed a tsunami that killed or left missing around 18,500 people and severely damaged the Fukushima nuclear plant.
(This is a developing story. More details awaited)
