A powerful 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck southern Japan on Wednesday, shaking parts of the Kagoshima region and causing panic among residents as buildings swayed across affected areas.
Japanese authorities were still assessing the situation hours after the tremor, with no immediate reports of casualties or major structural damage. No tsunami warning was issued following the quake.
According to Japanese media reports, the Japan Meteorological Agency said the earthquake struck near Okinawa Main Island. The agency recorded an intensity of upper 5 on Japan’s seismic scale of 0 to 7 in the hardest-hit locations, indicating strong shaking capable of unsettling people and moving unsecured objects indoors.
Officials also stated there was “no risk of tsunami” after the quake, easing fears in coastal communities that are often sensitive to seismic activity.
The tremor was felt across several parts of the region, prompting residents to move outdoors and briefly disrupting normal activity as authorities monitored infrastructure and transport conditions. Emergency agencies continued gathering information from local municipalities as inspections were carried out.
Japan experiences frequent earthquakes because of its position along the Pacific Ring of Fire, one of the most active seismic zones in the world. The country has developed extensive monitoring systems and strict building standards in response to decades of destructive earthquakes and tsunamis.
Wednesday’s earthquake came only four days after another strong tremor struck off the eastern coast of Honshu, Japan’s main island. That earlier quake temporarily disrupted train services and triggered emergency alerts in parts of the Tohoku region.
Authorities said the Honshu earthquake also posed no tsunami threat and caused no immediate reports of serious injuries or significant damage.
The back-to-back seismic activity has kept disaster response agencies on alert, though officials have so far indicated that the latest earthquakes did not produce the kind of widespread destruction sometimes associated with major seismic events in Japan.
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Residents in affected areas were continuing to follow updates from local authorities as inspections and monitoring efforts remained underway through the day.
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