Japan Earthquake Video: At 4:27 p.m. local time, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake tore through Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, its epicenter tucked near the town of Hikawa in Uki City, barely 10 kilometers below the surface. Four minutes later, before rattled residents had even caught their breath, a shallow 4.5 aftershock hit the very same spot. It was the kind of one-two punch that shook the residents deeply.
Japan Earthquake: When the Needle Hit Seven
Japan measures its quakes differently than most of the world, using a "shindo" scale that gauges what people and buildings actually feel rather than raw energy release. Tuesday's tremor maxed that scale out — a shindo 7, the highest reading it goes, recorded across parts of Kumamoto City and its surroundings. Nearby Yatsushiro and Uto, along with the towns of Mashiki and Misato, registered a still-brutal 6-upper. It marked the first time anywhere in Japan had hit that ceiling since the Noto Peninsula disaster back in January 2024.
