A major earthquake has collapsed many buildings and caused fires in southwestern Japan, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on July 28, AFP reported.
Local media reported that many fires and bridges were damaged, a freight train derailed and roads cracked after the earthquake on Kyushu Island, recording at least 12 houses collapsed.
The earthquake occurred at 4:27 PM (local time) with a magnitude of 7.1, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), but the highest level could be level 7 on Japan's Shindo tremors scale. The US Geological Survey (USGS) measured the earthquake intensity at 6.8.
We are still assessing the extent of casualties and property damage, but I am informed that some people have been injured," Ms. Takaichi said.
JMA initially issued a warning about the possibility of a tsunami up to 1 meter high, but withdrew the warning at around 6:10 pm.
This earthquake occurred inland, and no tsunami activity has been observed so far. For this reason, we hope to remove the tsunami warning in a relatively early stage, depending on sea level conditions in the near future," a JMA spokesman said.
The Nuclear Regulatory Authority said that no immediate abnormalities were recorded at the nuclear power plants. According to the local power company Kyushu Electric Power, about 45,000 households and facilities in the Kumamoto region lost power. 3 more nuclear reactors operating in the area at that time were still operating normally.
