A powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck Japan’s southern Kyushu region on Tuesday, triggering tsunami warnings, emergency alerts while sections of the historic Kumamoto Castle’s stone walls also collapsed, sending up massive clouds of dust.According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), the earthquake struck Kumamoto Prefecture at around 12:57 pm IST. The agency said the quake occurred at a shallow depth beneath the seabed.Videos circulating on social media showed sections of Kumamoto Castle’s centuries-old stone walls collapsing, with large dust clouds rising near the castle’s moat.Authorities are assessing the extent of structural damage to one of Japan’s most significant cultural landmarks.Tsunami warning issuedFollowing the earthquake, the JMA issued a tsunami warning for waves of up to one metre, while Japan’s Cabinet Office released tsunami advisories for the Ariake Sea and Yatsushiro Sea.The advisory covered Ariake Bay on the western coast of Kumamoto, around 900 kilometres southwest of Tokyo. However, the US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no tsunami threat beyond local coastlines.Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said the government had established a task force to monitor the situation and coordinate the emergency response.“We are putting people’s lives as the top priority,” Takaichi said in a post on X, urging residents in affected areas to avoid the coastline and remain vigilant for possible aftershocks.Japan’s Cabinet Office Disaster Management Division also appealed to residents to rely only on official information and remain calm.
