Earthquake in Japan causes power outages and interrupts transport

Speaking to the press at her office in Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said the number of victims and the severity of material damage were being assessed. “We have already been informed that there are injuries,” Takaichi said.

"There have been power outages and fires in some areas, as well as damage to roads and bridges and building collapses. Above all, I urge everyone to take steps to protect themselves, including moving to a safe location."

Public broadcaster NHK showed several buildings burning or destroyed, large cracks along roads, including an elevated highway, and a derailed freight train. More than 150,000 people were directed to evacuation centers, the disaster management agency said.

TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, has pulled employees from its factory in the region as a precaution, a company spokesperson said.

A spokesman for electronics company Sony, which also has a factory in the region, said the company was assessing the situation.

Residents in areas that felt the most intense tremors should be alert to new strong earthquakes for about a week, as well as the risk of landslides, said a representative of the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).

Airport and trains stopped The Japanese government has issued earthquake emergency warnings for the prefectures of Kumamoto, Nagasaki, Kagoshima, Fukuoka, Saga, Oita and Miyazaki, all located on the island of Kyushu in southern Japan.

Japan is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world, with a tremor occurring at least every five minutes. Located along the “Ring of Fire” – formed by volcanoes and oceanic trenches that partially surround the Pacific Basin – Japan is responsible for around 20% of earthquakes measuring 6.0 points on the Richter scale or more worldwide.

Kyushu Electric Power said around 40,000 homes were left without power as a result of the latest earthquake, while railway company JR Kyushu said it had suspended services, including its high-speed bullet trains.

Kumamoto Airport also closed the runway, airlines diverted and canceled flights.

Telecommunications operators KDDI and Docomo reported that there was an interruption in their mobile telephone services due to power outages and failures in transmission lines.

No irregularities were reported at nuclear plants in the region, Japan's nuclear regulatory authority said.

A major earthquake in Kumamoto 10 years ago killed 275 people and injured 2,739 others, according to official data, in addition to damaging thousands of buildings, including the city's castle, one of its main tourist attractions.