6.5 Earthquake Hits Kyushu

A big earthquake hit the Kyushu region of Japan Thursday night Japan time.

According to Japan Today:

TOKYO —Nine people have been confirmed dead after a powerful earthquake jolted southwestern Japan on Thursday night, local police said Friday. 

The magnitude-6.5 quake at 9:26 p.m. registered a maximum 7 on the Japanese seismic scale in the town of Mashiki, Kumamoto Prefecture in southern Kyushu, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. No tsunami warning was issued and no abnormalities have been detected at nuclear power plants in the area. 

The nine dead are three men and four women aged between 54-94 in Mashiki, and a 29-year-old man and 68-year-old woman in the Higashi Ward of Kumamoto City.

I visited Kumamoto City in April 2007. It is the main gateway city to Mount Aso Volcano National Park.

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