A
n earthquake occurred in southwestern parts of Japan today causing damage to buildings, fires, and leaving many people trapped in the partially destroyed shopping complex.
Report released by Japan PM Sanae Takaichi told to reporters in Tokyo that some injuries were recorded following the earthquake, an evaluation of its damage and a survey is pending to determine this tremor in the southern Japan's region known as Kumamoto.
The date of occurrence of earthquake is 4:27pm and magnitude is 7.1 according to Japan Meteorological Agency. Shindo scale level of earthquake is 7, it means maximum intensity level earthquake has taken place in Japan till now.
According to United States Geological Survey the magnitude of earthquake is 6.8. The city the closest to the epicenter of earthquake is Kumamoto, the biggest city of Kyushu Island (population about 700,000 people, which is 20km from the epicenter), is given an warning for the tsunami of 3feet height but it is not in action and then it was called off by Japan Meteorological Agency.
One of the most shocking events included partial destruction of the Aeon Mall in the Kumamoto region in the Yatsushiro and Kashima area. It is mentioned in the report by the authorities that there was an explosion inside the shopping complex on its second floor due to which the roof of the building had collapsed along with its facade, resulting in people getting trapped inside with white smoke and debris.
Approximately 200 people have been evacuated to the parking area of the shopping complex. Video footage showed that part of the building has been blown away with steel beams left uncovered and fallen ceilings seen from the air.
As per the information from Kumamoto police obtained by the local broadcaster RKK, a lot of deaths were expected due to the collapse of the building although not yet officially confirmed.
Local police reported in the first estimates that there were nine missing people. The representative of Aeon has reported that the customers and employees have been evacuated from the area after the initial earthquake.
According to Prime Minister Takaichi’s statement to the press, chaos reigned everywhere. “People have already been informed that there have been injuries.
There have been power cuts and fires in some places, and there has been destruction of roads, bridges, and collapsed buildings,” she said. She warned those who were living in the affected areas to be alert to the danger of a recurrence of an earthquake of a similar intensity in the near future, and she advised them on how to stay safe.
Takaichi did not provide casualty statistics, stating that the government was yet to ascertain the true damage done. In an update on social media, Takaichi stated that her government had formed a committee to collect information and assess damage.
Japanese public broadcaster NHK stated that one hospital alone had over 50 cases of injured patients, with some people even getting injured while riding a high-speed train, as mentioned by Nikkei newspaper. NHK also reported at least 12 buildings which have collapsed, with four of them having people trapped, most of them located in the Yatsushiro city.
It is reported that one pedestrian bridge had collapsed, as well as highway overpasses of Kyushu Expressway, with another highway bridge having buckled in somewhere else. Seven fires had been observed in Kumamoto prefecture, with pillars of a shrine collapsing.
All operations of the Kyushu Shinkansen bullet train had been halted, as well as other local trains, according to JR Kyushu. Approximately 45,000 houses and facilities lost their electricity supply, according to Kyushu Electric Power, but three nuclear reactors operating in the area were working fine, with the Nuclear Regulation Authority reporting no abnormalities at any nuclear plant in the country.
About 300,000 people have been ordered to evacuate to the shelters, according to Japan's disaster management agency, with the tsunami warning issued for Ariake and Yatsushiro Seas soon after the earthquake being lifted.
Photo: @Juntaro Yokoyama/Kyodo News/AP
The corporations did make certain arrangements due to this earthquake. The biggest corporation in the world that manufactures chips on a contractual basis is known as “TSMC,” who evacuated all its workers from its factory in this area.
In a similar fashion, Sony and Fujifilm had also evacuated their workers from their respective factories situated in this area. One of the touristic sites that were heavily damaged during the earthquakes of 2016, the Kumamoto castle got damaged once again as the stone walls of the castle collapsed.
Earthquakes are part of Kumamoto's history. This area of the world was affected by two huge earthquakes in 2016 when the area experienced two earthquakes with magnitudes of 6.5 and 7.3 respectively, which claimed 273 lives and more than 2,800 people were injured. In recent days, there has been an earthquake of 7.2 magnitude in the north of Japan on June 25 that has caused neither death nor destruction of any sort.
Japan is still considered one of the most seismically active areas in the world due to the fact that it is situated between four tectonic plates of the Pacific Ring of Fire and is responsible for 18-20% of earthquakes in the world that are 6.0 and above in magnitude on the Richter scale.
Photo: @Guardian graphic. Source: USGS
