A preliminary magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Japan’s Kumamoto prefecture on Tuesday, cutting power to tens of thousands of homes, disrupting rail and air travel, and prompting evacuation orders for more than 150,000 residents.
Tokyo, Japan – Web Desk: A powerful earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.1 struck Japan’s southern Kumamoto prefecture on Tuesday, cutting electricity to thousands of households, disrupting road and rail networks, and forcing more than 150,000 residents to head toward evacuation centres.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, addressing reporters in Tokyo, said authorities were still assessing the scale of injuries and property damage across the affected region. She confirmed that some people had already been hurt and said fires and power failures had broken out in several areas, alongside damage to roads, bridges and buildings. “We have already been informed that people have been injured,” she said, urging residents to move to safe locations without delay. geo
Footage aired by Japan’s public broadcaster showed structures on fire and partially collapsed, deep fissures running along roadways including an elevated expressway, and a freight train that had derailed. The country’s disaster management agency said the number of people directed to evacuation shelters had crossed 150,000.
The tremor prompted swift precautionary steps from major industrial players in the region. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, moved staff out of its nearby facility as a safety measure. Electronics manufacturer Sony said it was monitoring conditions at its own plant in the area.
Officials from the Japan Meteorological Agency cautioned that residents in the hardest-hit zones should remain alert for further strong aftershocks over roughly the next week, along with an elevated risk of landslides in hilly terrain.
Authorities issued emergency earthquake alerts across seven prefectures on Kyushu island — Kumamoto, Nagasaki, Kagoshima, Fukuoka, Saga, Oita and Miyazaki. A tsunami advisory warning of a roughly one-metre wave was also issued shortly after the quake but was later withdrawn once the threat had passed.
Japan sits along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a belt of volcanic and seismic activity, and experiences a tremor on average every few minutes. The country accounts for close to a fifth of the world’s earthquakes measuring magnitude 6.0 or higher, making preparedness a routine part of daily life there.
Kyushu Electric Power reported that around 40,000 homes had lost electricity as a direct result of the quake. Rail operator JR Kyushu suspended all services, including its high-speed bullet trains, while Kumamoto airport shut its runway, forcing airlines to cancel or reroute flights. Mobile carriers KDDI and Docomo also reported service disruptions linked to power failures and damaged transmission lines.
Japan’s nuclear regulatory authority said no abnormalities had been detected at nuclear power facilities in the region.
The latest disaster revives memories of a devastating 2016 earthquake that struck the same region, killing 275 people and injuring 2,739 others, according to official figures, while damaging thousands of buildings including Kumamoto’s historic castle, one of the area’s most visited landmarks. Officials say the full extent of Tuesday’s damage will become clearer as assessment teams reach affected areas in the coming hours.
