Earthquake in Japan
An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.2 struck east of Kumamoto, southern Japan on 14 April. At least 49 fatalities were reported, with more than 3000 injured.
The powerful quake displaced thousands of people as they left their homes to find safety after reports of collapsed buildings and loss of power. Relief efforts and rescue operations were affected by a number of aftershocks that shook the region.
The quake's magnitude of 6.2 was not extreme but the shallow depth of 10km under populated areas caused severe damage. Kumamoto Prefecture suffered the most damage from the earthquake, with the city of Mashiki particularly hard-hit.
Several landslides struck the region in the wake of the earthquake, cutting off roads and collapsing the Great Aso Bridge into the Kurokawa River.
No tsunami warning was issued as the quake was centred under land and not the ocean, allaying any fears that the country's nuclear reactors might be affected.
- Type of event
- Earthquake
- Location of event
- Japan
- Date of Charter Activation
- 2016-04-14
- Time of Charter Activation
- 21:00
- Time zone of Charter Activation
- UTC+02:00
- Charter Requestor
- JAXA on behalf of Cabinet Office
- Activation ID
- -
- Project Management
- Center for Spatial Information Science, The University of Tokyo
- Value Adding
- -