A 7.1 magnitude earthquake took place on Tuesday in the Kumamoto prefecture in southern Japan on Tuesday. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), the centre of the earthquake was very close to the city of Uto, which is also close to the capital of the prefecture, Kumamoto, of over 700,000 inhabitants.
The earthquake has left 40,000 homes without power, caused transportation disruptions, and destruction. No casualties have been confirmed, but there are some reports of dozens of injuries, with people trapped in a shopping mall and a factory that were severely damaged. Many more people were evacuated and a tsunami alert was issued for a one-metre wave, but the alert was downgraded, according to the U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (via El País). In 2016, a series of earthquakes in the area caused 278 deaths.
The famous Kumamoto castle, dating back to the early 17th Century in its current form (which was greatly reconstructed in 1960) could have suffered damages, ten years after the region was hit with another earthquake (a 6.5 magnitude earthquake in 2016 followed by a 7.3). Videos on social media show the walls near the castle colliding and dust elevating around the castle.
