A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 6.9 struck southwestern Japan on Monday, causing minor tsunamis but no immediate reports of injuries or significant damage.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) recorded the quake at 9:19 p.m. in the Hyuga Nada Sea, near Miyazaki Prefecture, at a depth of about 30 kilometers.
The tremor registered a lower 5 on Japan’s seismic scale of 7 in parts of Miyazaki, Shintomi, and Takanabe.
Small tsunami waves of up to 20 centimeters were observed in Miyazaki and 10 centimeters in Kochi Prefecture.
Train services on the Kyushu Shinkansen line were briefly suspended, but operations resumed without major disruptions.
No abnormalities were reported at the Ikata nuclear power plant in Ehime or the Sendai plant in Kagoshima, officials confirmed.
The JMA is assessing whether the earthquake increases the risk of a megaquake in the Nankai Trough, a seismic hotspot where quakes of magnitude 8 to 9 have a 70-80% chance of occurring within the next 30 years.
The last major events in this region were the devastating 1944 Tonankai and 1946 Nankai earthquakes.
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