New Delhi, July 28 (IANS) External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Tuesday expressed concern at the news of the earthquake that struck Kumamoto prefecture in Japan earlier in the day.
“Deeply concerned at the news of the earthquake that struck Kumamoto prefecture in Japan. Express our solidarity and support to the Government and people of Japan as they respond to it. Pray for the safety and recovery of those affected by the earthquake,” the EAM wrote on X.
An earthquake of 7.1 magnitude jolted southwestern Japan on Tuesday, killing one person and injuring dozens of others, local media reported.
Many people are feared trapped, with up to 30 employees unaccounted for after an explosion occurred at an Aeon Co.-operated shopping mall in Kashima, Kumamoto Prefecture, Kyodo News reported.
According to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency and police, the building’s second floor collapsed. The facility exploded after about 200 people evacuated.
At Yatsushiro Station, a cargo train was derailed and overturned, leaving the driver uninjured.
According to the reports, around 50 people were taken to a hospital in Kumamoto, and local firefighting authorities have received reports of people trapped inside their homes.
“It shook vertically and sideways for about 10 to 20 seconds. It was worse than during the Kumamoto earthquake (in 2016),” said an 89-year-old man in Uki, one of the hardest hit cities, reported Kyodo.
The temblor occurred at around 4:27 p.m. local time at a depth of about 10 km, measuring a maximum of 7 on Japan’s seismic intensity scale in the hardest-hit areas in the prefecture, the weather agency said.
A tsunami warning of one metre has been issued for the Ariake Sea and Yatsushiro Sea in southwestern Japan.
The Sendai nuclear power plant in Kagoshima Prefecture and the Genkai nuclear power plant in Saga Prefecture did not report any abnormalities.
“The intensity of 7 was registered for the first time since January 2024, when a powerful quake struck the Noto Peninsula in central Japan,” noted Kyodo.
–IANS
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