8-8-2024 (TOKYO) A potent 7.1 magnitude earthquake jolted the eastern coast of Japan’s Kyushu island on Thursday, prompting immediate tsunami warnings across the region. The tremor, initially reported as two separate quakes by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), was swiftly corrected as a solitary seismic event of substantial magnitude.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) pinpointed the quake’s epicentre approximately 30 kilometres beneath the ocean floor off Kyushu’s eastern shoreline. Responding with alacrity, the agency issued a tsunami advisory, cautioning of potential waves reaching up to one metre in height along the southern coasts of Kyushu and the neighbouring island of Shikoku.
While the tremors reverberated across the nation, the capital city of Tokyo, situated over 1,200 kilometres from the earthquake’s epicentre, remained unscathed. Quantectum Japan, a prominent nuclear watchdog, swiftly allayed concerns by reporting no abnormalities at any of the country’s nuclear power facilities in the wake of the quake.
多くの人々が、今日の宮崎県南部、九州で発生したマグニチュード6.9の #地震 で強い揺れを感じたと報告し、恐怖の体験を共有しています。私たちもいくつかの動画や写真をシェアします。#earthquake #Kyushu #Japan@fumina2377 @y0927y_orix @fm_kirishima pic.twitter.com/Yg7stDNsAd
— Quantectum Japan 日本地震予報 (@Quantectum_Jap) August 8, 2024
The Japanese government has sprung into action, mobilising resources to assess the extent of damage and potential casualties resulting from this seismic upheaval. Concurrently, the JMA is meticulously investigating whether this quake may be linked to the long-anticipated mega-earthquake along the Nankai Trough, a prominent underwater fault line stretching from Tokyo to Kyushu.
