A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 7.1 shook southern Japan yesterday, but no major damage was reported and only relatively minor tsunami arrived at the coast.
The quake hit at 4:42pm off Kyushu at a depth of 25km, the US Geological Survey said.
Broadcaster NHK showed footage of traffic lights shaking violently in Miyazaki on Kyushu.
Photo: AP
“The surface of the sea is wavering. I felt an intense jolt when the quake happened which lasted for between 30 seconds and a minute,” a local official told NHK.
The broadcaster also reported that three people were hurt in Miyazaki, but gave no indication of the extent of their injuries.
Tsunamis of up to 1m were initially expected to arrive or had arrived in some coastal areas in Kyushu and Shikoku islands, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
The agency also said a small tsunami was possible in Chiba, about 850km from the epicenter.
“Tsunamis will strike repeatedly. Please do not enter the sea or approach the coast until the warning is lifted,” the agency wrote on X.
However, tsunamis of only 50cm, 20cm and 10cm were confirmed to have hit some places, including the port of Miyazaki, more than an hour after the quake, it said.
No abnormalities were reported at atomic power plants in the area, Japan’s nuclear regulation authority said.
Japansese government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said that “damage to people and property” was still being assessed.
“In view of this situation, the prime minister instructed [officials] to provide the public with timely and accurate information on tsunamis and evacuations,” Hayashi said.
Unverified footage shared on social media showed only minor damage, including a small wall that had collapsed in a car park.
LANDMARK CASE: ‘Every night we were dragged to US soldiers and sexually abused. Every week we were forced to undergo venereal disease tests,’ a victim said More than 100 South Korean women who were forced to work as prostitutes for US soldiers stationed in the country have filed a landmark lawsuit accusing Washington of abuse, their lawyers said yesterday. Historians and activists say tens of thousands of South Korean women worked for state-sanctioned brothels from the 1950s to 1980s, serving US troops stationed in country to protect the South from North Korea. In 2022, South Korea’s top court ruled that the government had illegally “established, managed and operated” such brothels for the US military, ordering it to pay about 120 plaintiffs compensation. Last week, 117 victims
‘HYANGDO’: A South Korean lawmaker said there was no credible evidence to support rumors that Kim Jong-un has a son with a disability or who is studying abroad South Korea’s spy agency yesterday said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s daughter, Kim Ju-ae, who last week accompanied him on a high-profile visit to Beijing, is understood to be his recognized successor. The teenager drew global attention when she made her first official overseas trip with her father, as he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Analysts have long seen her as Kim’s likely successor, although some have suggested she has an older brother who is being secretly groomed as the next leader. The South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) “assesses that she [Kim Ju-ae]
In the week before his fatal shooting, right-wing US political activist Charlie Kirk cheered the boom of conservative young men in South Korea and warned about a “globalist menace” in Tokyo on his first speaking tour of Asia. Kirk, 31, who helped amplify US President Donald Trump’s agenda to young voters with often inflammatory rhetoric focused on issues such as gender and immigration, was shot in the neck on Wednesday at a speaking event at a Utah university. In Seoul on Friday last week, he spoke about how he “brought Trump to victory,” while addressing Build Up Korea 2025, a conservative conference
China has approved the creation of a national nature reserve at the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島), claimed by Taiwan and the Philippines, the government said yesterday, as Beijing moves to reinforce its territorial claims in the contested region. A notice posted online by the Chinese State Council said that details about the area and size of the project would be released separately by the Chinese National Forestry and Grassland Administration. “The building of the Huangyan Island National Nature Reserve is an important guarantee for maintaining the diversity, stability and sustainability of the natural ecosystem of Huangyan Island,” the notice said. Scarborough
RSS