Tsunami advisory issued after strong quake rocks off Kyushu…

A magnitude 7.1 earthquake rocked off the coast of Miyazaki Prefecture on Thursday, prompting a tsunami advisory for parts of the coast of Kyushu and Shikoku and for the Meteorological Agency to issue an alert warning of a further possible mega-quake along the Nankai Trough area, off the east coast of Japan, for the first time.

Thursday’s earthquake registered a lower 6 on the seven-point Japanese seismic intensity scale, occurring at 4:43 p.m. at a depth of 30 kilometres, with its epicentre in the Hyuganada sea off the coast of Miyazaki Prefecture.

A total of nine people were reported to have been injured in Kyushu’s Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures as of 7:30 p.m., according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency. Among those, seven suffered minor injuries while the extent of injuries for the other two remain unclear. Speaking at an emergency news conference, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said a landslide had been reported in the city of Shibushi in Kagoshima Prefecture.

At its own news conference following the quake, the Meteorological Agency cautioned that people in the affected areas should be on alert for earthquakes measuring up to lower 6 for the next week, especially over the next two or three days. In areas where tremors were strongly felt, the risk of buildings collapsing and of landslides had increased, the agency added, warning people to stay vigilant surrounding quake activity and rainfall.

Tsunami waves of up to 1 metre were initially anticipated along coastlines in Ehime, Kochi, Oita, and Kagoshima prefectures in addition to Miyazaki, with the agency warning people to stay away from the sea and waterways until those advisories were lifted as tsunami waves can arrive repeatedly.

Small waves were recorded in some areas. A 50-centimeter tsunami was recorded at Miyazaki Port at 5:14 p.m., a 40-cm wave reached Aburatsu Port on the Nichinan coast in Miyazaki at 5:23 p.m., and a 30-cm wave reached Tosashimizu in Kochi at 5:46 p.m. Tsunami advisories were lifted for areas outside of Miyazaki Prefecture at about 7:00 p.m.

After the earthquake, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida instructed authorities to share accurate information about the tsunami warning and any damage, urging residents to take necessary precautions to find shelter.

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