Kumamoto Earthquake

Land was abruptly shaken and people hardly kept on standing on the floor. Consecutive earthquakes with 7^th degree seismic intensity captured Kumamoto, located in the middle of Kyushu Island, Thursday night. Houses and roads were collapsed and the police confirmed 9 deaths by Friday morning. Experts analyzed that the quake occurred around a major rift underground. The Japanese realized again that they were living on the nest of earthquake.

A video footage of Kumamoto Broadcasting Station of NHK indicated strong quake in the office, where plate hanging on the ceiling was swinging and workers hid themselves under their desks. In the downtown of Kumamoto city, people in the pubs or restaurants evacuated the building and were watching their smart phones to update the information about the earthquake or to communicate with their families or friends.

A part of stonewall in Kumamoto Castle was collapsed, scattering blocks on the ground. Houses in Mashiki Town, in eastern suburb of Kumamoto, fell down. Some were left under the house and others evacuated to public spaces nearby. Fires occurred with some causes, gas for family appliance was leaked from broken pipelines, and blackout made midnight evacuation harder.

Transportation showed its vulnerability to earthquake. Kyushu Express Highway was closed, because a part of road was collapsed with landslide. Bullet trains stopped around Kumamoto area and no rehabilitation could see next morning. Airlines in Kumamoto Airport fell in disorder with difficulty of flight management. Car drivers around Kumamoto suffered from long traffic jam.

According to Kyushu Electric Power Company, no unusual incident was found in Sendai Nuclear Power Plant in Kagoshima Prefecture. Two reactors in the plant, which were only operating nuclear reactors in Japan, kept on its power generation through the night. Suspended reactors in Genkai Nuclear Power Plant in Saga Prefecture also had no unusual phenomenon with the earthquake. But, the people must have thought what was happening, if the quake had occurred around the plants.

There is a major rift called Futagawa-Hinagu Rift Belt underground of Kumamoto. The rift has some records of earthquake occurring relatively shallow in the underground. Compared to the magnitude of the earthquake itself, actual quake on the ground was greater than usual consequence. Consecutive aftershocks are frequent, precipitating the people to deep fear. The aftershocks are expected to continue for a week.