A big earthquake hit southwestern Japan causing nine people to get hurt a little. It also caused damage like broken water pipes and small landslides, the government said on Thursday. There was no risk of a tsunami.
The earthquake on Wednesday night had a magnitude of 6.6 It happened just off the coast of Shikoku, in an area called the Bungo Channel, which is a narrow stretch of water between Shikoku and Kyushu.
The earthquake happened deep under the sea, and the Japanese Meteorological Agency said there’s no risk of a tsunami.
The Fire and Disaster Management Agency reported on Thursday that six people in Ehime prefecture, one in neighbouring Kochi, and two others in Oita on Kyushu island got hurt, mostly from falling at home.
Pipes broke in Sukumo City and stones fell at a Buddhist temple in Ainan town, according to local news. Roof tiles were falling down too.
The nuclear safety authority said that everything is okay with the four reactors at three nuclear power plants in Shikoku and Kyushu.
Japan is in a place where there are a lot of earthquakes because it is in the “ring of fire” in the Pacific Ocean. In March 2011, a very big earthquake and tsunami hit Japan’s northeast coast. It destroyed a lot of places, killed almost 20,000 people, and caused the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to have meltdowns.
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9 persons in Japan have minor injuries following powerful earthquake
