An earthquake with magnitude of 6 on the Richter scale struck the Kyushu area of Japan on Wednesday evening. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage from the region. The tremors came days after Japan warned that a powerful earthquake in the Nakai Trough could kill up to 300,000 people and set off destructive tsunamis in Japan. It also comes soon after two earthquakes of magnitude 7.7 and 7 left a trail of destruction across Myanmar and Thailand.
According to an update shared by National Center for Seismology, the quake occurred at a depth of 30 kilometers at 7:34 pm with its epicenter in Kyushu. No damage has been reported from the area — some 283 km south-east of Nagasaki — and there is no tsunami alert at this time.
Japan is one of the world’s most earthquake-prone countries, and the government sees about an 80% chance of a magnitude 8 to 9 earthquake along a tremulous seabed zone known as the Nankai Trough. Last year, Japan issued its first-ever megaquake advisory that there was a “relatively higher chance” of a quake as powerful as magnitude 9 in the trough, after a magnitude-7.1 quake occurred at the edge of the trough.
A report released by the Japanese government on Monday suggests that the economy could lose as much as $1.81 trillion in case of the long-anticipated megaquake off its Pacific coast. The tremors could trigger devastating tsunamis and the collapse of hundreds of buildings in the country. The report estimated that it could kill around 300,000 people and wreak economic damage of 270.3 trillion Yen — nearly half of the country’s GDP.
The trough is off Japan’s southwest Pacific coast and runs for approximately 900 km (600 miles), where the Philippine Sea Plate is subducting under the Eurasian Plate. The accumulating tectonic strains could result in a megaquake roughly once in 100 to 150 years.