Magnitude 6.6 earthquake in Japan causes injuries and minor damage – Observer

An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.6 hit the west coast of the Japanese island of Shikoku this Wednesday at 11:14 pm (3:14 pm in Lisbon), according to the local press, which states that the first information indicates only injuries and minor damage.

In a press conference, early in the morning, the Secretary-General of the Government, Yoshimasa Hayashi, reported that several minor injuries had been recorded due to the earthquake, which did not lead to a tsunami warning.

NHK television reported minor damage such as broken water pipes, fallen street lamps and a landslide on a national road.

Among the injured, in Ainan, a woman in her 70s was taken to hospital after fainting, according to local firefighters.

No anomalies were detected at the nuclear plant of Shikoku Electric Power’s Ikata in Ehime, NHK added.

The Meteorological Agency had initially reported that the earthquake had a magnitude of 6.4, but later fixed the magnitude at 6.6.

At the beginning of the year, at least 48 people died in an earthquake that hit the west coast of central Japan.

The earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.6 on the open Richter scale and with its epicenter on the Noto peninsula, led authorities to activate a tsunami warning, in effect for 18 hours.

The 155 earthquakes that shook central Japan in the first days of 2024 caused “numerous victims” and significant material damage, including collapsed buildings and fires, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said at the time.