A 6.6 magnitude earthquake strikes prefectures in western Japan, and no tsunami warning has been issued

This image from the Japan Meteorological Agency website shows the seismic intensity of the earthquake that struck around 11:14 pm on April 17, 2024.

TOKYO (Kyodo) – A 6.6-magnitude earthquake struck a wide area in western Japan on Wednesday evening, but no tsunami warning was issued and there were no immediate reports of serious damage or casualties, the Japanese government said.

The 11:14 p.m. quake registered below 6 on Japan's 7-magnitude seismic intensity scale in Ainan, Ehime Prefecture, and Sukumo, Kochi Prefecture, both on Shikoku Island, with its focus in a strait separating the island from the main southwestern island of Kyushu. At a depth of 39 kilometers, according to the Meteorological Agency.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said that this is the first earthquake to reach the intensity level on Shikoku Island, located on the Pacific coast of Japan, since the current level was determined in October 1996.

The epicenter of the earthquake occurred in the Bongo Canal, within part of an area where a government committee said a devastating earthquake with a magnitude of at least eight could occur within 30 years. The area is located near the subsea Nankai Basin, which extends from off Shizuoka Prefecture in central Japan to off Miyazaki Prefecture in the southwest of the country.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi briefs reporters on the latest information about a 6.6 magnitude earthquake that struck a wide area of ​​western Japan at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on April 18, 2024. (Kyodo)

But an agency official said in a press conference that Wednesday's earthquake is not a direct indication that there is a greater possibility of such a strong earthquake occurring near the basin.

The agency said the quake appeared to have occurred in the Philippine Sea region, and its seismic mechanism was different from that of a possible earthquake in the Nankai region.

As the government continues to collect information about the damage caused by the earthquake, reports have emerged of buildings with broken windows, torn water pipes and dangling power cables in the area, according to local authorities.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said in a separate press conference that several people had been taken to hospital, and called on the public to continue preparing for aftershocks with a level below 6 on the scale.

Hiroki Tachibana, 60, head of a local fisheries cooperative in Ainan, woke up to shaking that lasted for more than 10 seconds. He also heard creaking sounds from his two-story wooden house.

“I'm concerned about whether cooperative fishing facilities have been affected,” he said.

Operator Shikoku Electric Power Co. said the quake did not cause major damage to the Ikata Nuclear Power Plant in Ehime Prefecture.

Kyushu Electric Power also said no anomalies were detected at the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant in Kagoshima Prefecture on Kyushu Island.

Near the Nankai Basin, a magnitude 8 earthquake has occurred at certain intervals for centuries. The government's Earthquake Research Committee predicts there is a 70 to 80 percent chance of a magnitude 8 to 9 earthquake there within the next 30 years.

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