A strong earthquake has struck southwestern Japan, triggering temporary tsunami warnings

Japan has issued a tsunami warning after a magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck the country’s southwest, the country’s weather agency said Monday. Public warnings to stay away from coastal areas were later lifted.

The agency initially estimated the magnitude at 6.9, but later lowered it. An official initially told reporters that the downgraded magnitude was 6.7, but the agency then issued a statement revising the magnitude to 6.6.

There were no immediate reports of damage. Residents of some coastal areas were told to evacuate as a precaution.

A man was slightly injured in Kyushu after falling down the stairs, NHK TV reported. Trains stopped running at Miyazaki station, stranding passengers.

NHK said the tsunami, estimated to be as high as 3.2 feet, reached land within 30 minutes of the quake. The water discovered in Miyazaki Harbor was 8 inches high, reports said.

Tsunami warnings were issued for Miyazaki Prefecture, where the quake was centered, on the southwestern island of Kyushu, as well as for nearby Kochi Prefecture on Shikoku Island, shortly after the quake struck at 9:19 p.m., according to the agency. All were recalled shortly before midnight.

US Geological Survey revised his assessment down from 6.9, adding that there was “no tsunami threat from this earthquake” for the United States.

However, the JMA urged the public to stay away from coastal waters. “Tsunami may recur. Please do not enter the sea or approach coastal areas,” the agency announced on social media.

Agency official Shigeki Aoki told reporters that people should watch out for landslides as well as falling objects in homes. Aftershocks are possible, especially in the next two or three days, he said.

The quake, centered at a depth of 28.6 miles, shook a wide area in Kyushu, the southwestern main island, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

Footage from NHK TV showed moving traffic and well-lit streets, meaning the electricity was still working. No problems were observed at the various monitoring sites for nuclear facilities in the area.

Japan is often hit by earthquakes due to its location along the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and faults in the Pacific Basin.

Experts at the weather agency met late Monday to assess whether the latest quake could be linked to the so-called Nankai Trough earthquakes, but decided not to take any emergency measures for now. The term refers to a broad region believed to be prone to occasional large earthquakes.

The 1946 Nankai Trough earthquake off Shikoku killed more than 1,300 people.

Last August, a strong earthquake hit southern Japancausing mostly minor injuries but raising concerns about possible major earthquakes emanating from the seabed east of the coast.

An earthquake on January 1, 2024 in the north-central region of Japan he left more than 240 people dead in Not.

Japan has strict building codes to ensure buildings can withstand strong earthquakes and regularly holds emergency drills to prepare for larger quakes.

But the country is haunted by the memory of the massive 9.0-magnitude undersea earthquake off northeastern Japan in March 2011, which caused tsunami in which about 18,500 people died or went missing.

The 2011 tsunami also sent three reactors into a meltdown Fukushima nuclear power plant, causing Japan’s worst post-war disaster and the most serious nuclear accident since Chernobyl.

In March 2022, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake off the coast of Fukushima shook large areas of eastern Japan, killing three people.

The capital city of Tokyo was destroyed by a powerful earthquake a little more than a century ago in 1923.

Agence France-Presse contributed to this report.