Still reeling from yesterday’s 6.5 magnitude earthquake that killed no fewer than nine people and saw many lose their homes or be evacuated from the affected area; Japan has once again been hit by a powerful earthquake. In the last 30 minutes, Japan saw a shake with a magnitude of 7.1 on the Richter Scale.
The government has issued a tsunami warning and we will report back with more information when it becomes available.
Yesterday’s quake of 6.5
In a land connected by multiple fault lines so close to the sea, earthquakes can become devastating quickly and without warning.
Yesterday’s quake struck at 9:26 p.m. at a depth of 7 miles (11km) near Kumamoto City on the island of Kyushu.
Leaving several dead, hundreds missing and massive property damage, the Kumamoto City quake devastated many in the region.
The damage is intense and reports indicate that the shaking started and quickly grew to a violent situation for around 30 seconds. Leaving the U.S. Geological Service to assign the damage assessment a code red. A red code designation indicates the USGS believes the affected areas to be widespread and damage extensive.
Yesterday, no less than 300 people were moved to temporary evacuation centers in the region. Hundreds of military personnel continue to perform search and rescue operations. The 6.4 earthquake is the strongest registered since the 9.0 quake in 2011 that killed 20,000 and caused the Fukushima reactor meltdown.
Most of Japan’s nuclear reactors continue to stay offline since the meltdown of Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima operations center. The nuclear power plant hit hard by a tsunami, caused by a severe earthquake March 12, 2011.
Yesterday’s quake posed no threat to the safety and cleanup efforts and posed no threats to any other power plants in the affected area of the epicenter.
Whether the same can be said after today, is another matter.
UPDATE 1:15 EDT
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the quake that occurred on Saturday morning local time was centered on Japan’s Kyushu island, the same region a magnitude 6.2 quake struck late Thursday.
