Strong and shallow M6.8 earthquake hits Kyushu, Japan
A strong and shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.8 hit near the coast of Kyushu, Japan at 12:19 UTC (21:19 LT) on January 13, 2025. The agency is reporting a depth of 49 km (30 miles). The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) is reporting M6.6 at a depth of 36 km (22.3 miles).
Image credit: TW/SAM, Google
The epicenter was located 11 km (7 miles) ESE of Miyazaki (population 398 215), 27 km (17 miles) SSE of Saito (population 29 262), and 29 km (18 miles) SSE of Tsuma (population 34 318), Miyazaki, Japan.
Based on all available data, there is no tsunami threat from this earthquake, NWS PTWC said.
JMA issued a Tsunami Advisory following the quake, and lifted it at 23:50 LT. A 20 cm (7.9 inches) tsunami wave was registered in Miyazaki and 10 cm (3.9 inches) in Kochi.
According to the USGS PAGER, 1 022 000 people are estimated to have felt strong shaking, 2 917 000 moderate and 7 217 000 light.
Liquefaction triggered by this earthquake is estimated to be significant in severity and (or) spatial extent. The number of people living near areas that could have produced liquefaction in this earthquake is extensive.
Little or no landsliding is expected, but some landslides could have occurred in highly susceptible areas.
The USGS issued a Green alert for shaking-related fatalities and economic losses. There is a low likelihood of casualties and damage.
Overall, the population in this region resides in structures that are resistant to earthquake shaking, though vulnerable structures exist. The predominant vulnerable building types are heavy wood frame and reinforced/confined masonry construction.
Recent earthquakes in this area have caused secondary hazards such as landslides that might have contributed to losses.
Some train services in Miyazaki Prefecture were suspended following the earthquake, while the Kyushu Shinkansen bullet train operated at reduced speed between Kumamoto and Shin-Yatsushiro.
In Miyazaki City, the quake caused minor structural damage, including a broken window pane at a railway station. At a liquor store, bottles fell from shelves approximately 2 m (6.6 feet) high.
Authorities at the Sendai nuclear power plant in Kagoshima Prefecture reported no abnormalities at the facility. Radiation levels in the vicinity were confirmed to be stable.
Assistant Professor Yamashita Yusuke from Kyoto University’s Disaster Prevention Research Institute, an expert on seismic activity in the Nankai Trough region, explained that Monday’s tremor occurred near the site of a M7.1 earthquake in the Hyuganada Sea in August last year.
Several hours after the August 2024 M7.1 quake, JMA issued its first megaquake advisory, warning residents that if a major earthquake were to occur in the future, strong shaking and large tsunamis would be generated.
Yamashita suggested that today’s quake might have been caused by movement in a previously cracked section of the area.
He also stated that the recent quake is unlikely to influence the potential occurrence of a Nankai Trough mega-quake and noted that the seismic energy released by Monday’s earthquake was about half that of the August 2024 event.
Estimated population exposure to earthquake shaking
Selected cities exposed
Regional seismicity
References:
1 M6.8 earthquake Japan – USGS – January 13, 2025
2 Strong quake hits Kyushu in southwestern Japan, tsunami advisory lifted – NHK – January 13, 2025
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“Thus says The Lord God: The earth is filled with violence, the whole world is corrupt! Madness has overcome the people, transgression is uplifted, and abominations of every kind are widely accepted; great wickedness proliferates throughout every tribe, tongue, people and nation unimpeded! Thus the earth is forsaken for a time, wherein I have turned to it My back. And so shall it remain, until the Great Day comes when I shall move swiftly against it…
And until this time and after, the earth shall tremble and shake, and bring forth calamity upon calamity, and famine and pestilence of every kind. For all this is but the beginning of sorrows, the first contractions of an expectant mother suffering to bring forth… Says The Lord.”
(From The Volumes of Truth, Volume Seven, excerpts from “The World Shall Be Shaken”)