Strong Quake Jolts Southwestern Japan Islands

Tokyo, May 20 (Jiji Press)–A strong earthquake struck southwestern Japan on Wednesday, measuring upper 5, the fourth-highest level on the Japanese seismic intensity scale, on an island in Kagoshima Prefecture, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. The temblor with an estimated magnitude of 5.9 occurred at a depth of about 50 kilometers off the coast of the main island of the southernmost Japan prefecture of Okinawa at around 11:46 a.m., the JMA said. No tsunami warning was issued. Upper 5 seismic intensity was recorded in the town of Yoron and lower 5 in the town of China, both in the southern part of the Amami Islands region of Kagoshima. The JMA said that it was the strongest tremor logged in Yoron since the agency started measuring seismic activity in the town in March 2007. Following the earthquake, the government set up a liaison office at the crisis management center of the prime minister’s office. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi posted on X, formerly Twitter, that she had instructed her government to assess the extent of the damage caused by the earthquake and provide timely and accurate information to the public. Ayataka Ebita, director of the agency’s Earthquake and Tsunami Observation Division, told a press conference that areas hit by strong shaking should stay alert for possible quakes of up to upper 5 intensity for about a week. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]