M7 quake hits Japan today, death toll rises to 19

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M7 quake hits Japan today, death toll rises to 19

16/04/2016 3:18am

UPDATED 3:16pm — A 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck early Saturday morning in Japan’s Kyushu island, the same region a magnitude-6.2 quake struck yesterday. The death toll now stands at 19 is expected to rise further.

Today’s quake is now considered the main event. Japanese Authorities place the quake at magnitude 7.3, the USGS (who we use internationally) remains with M7.0.

The city has a million people and the epicentre of the quake this morning was just over 1km from downtown.

This morning’s quake in the region of Kyushu is also where Japan’s only working nuclear reactors remain – officials say they are in normal working condition today.

Bridges have collapsed and there have been significant landslides and building collapses.

The U.S. Geological Survey reported that the latest quake struck just west-southwest of Kumamoto-shi and about 8 miles south-southeast of Ueki — the epicenter of the late-Thursday tremor that left nine dead.

“No question, this is a large and very important earthquake,” said Doug Given, a geophysicist with the USGS. “And it will do a lot of damage.”

The quake prompted the Japan Meteorological Agency to issue a tsunami advisory for coastal regions of Japan on the Ariake Sea and Yatsushiro Sea around 2 a.m. Saturday local time. Tsunami advisories are issued when the tsunami height is expected to between 0.2 and 1 meter (0.65 to 3.3 feet). A warning would be for larger tsunamis.

The agency subsequently lifted all tsunami warnings and advisories.

As Given noted, “the four islands of Japan are on the edge of what’s traditionally been known as the ‘Ring of Fire'” — a stretch along parts of the Pacific Ocean prone to volcanoes and earthquakes.

The latest tremor suggests that the one Thursday was a foreshock, though USGS expert cautioned “that’s not to say that the Earth can’t produce a bigger earthquake still to follow.”

“But statistically, it’s more likely that this latest event will be followed by aftershocks, which are all smaller.”

– CNN, additional WeatherWatch.co.nz

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JohnGaul on 16/04/2016 6:48am

Interesting that the aftershock from the initial was stronger .
Mind you the initial had a strong shake factor for a 6.2m earthquake.

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