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, southwestern Japan, 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 main island of the southernmost Japan prefecture of Okinawa at around 11:46 a.m., the agency said. No tsunami occurred from the quake. The seismic intensity of upper 5 was recorded in the island town of Yoron and lower 5 in the town of China on Okinoerabu Island. Both islands are among the Amami Islands in Kagoshima. No injuries had been reported in the two towns as of 4 p.m. It was the strongest temblor in Yoron since the agency started monitoring seismic activity in the town in March 2007. In Yoron, about 20 ceiling panels fell at a gymnasium while a piece of ceiling over staircases dropped at a local high school. Following the earthquake, the Japanese 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 has instructed the 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 in Tokyo that areas hit by strong shaking should stay alert for possible quakes of up to around upper 5 intensity for about a week. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]