Japan’s Meteorological Agency is calling for continued vigilance against strong quakes in Kumamoto and its vicinity in southwestern Japan for at least another week.
Gen Aoki, head of the agency’s earthquake and tsunami monitoring section, made the appeal on Thursday, a week after the first huge earthquake hit Kumamoto.
The magnitude 6.5 quake registered the highest level of intensity on the Japanese seismic scale of zero to 7. Two days later, a magnitude 7.3 quake also recorded the highest intensity level.
Aoki said a steep increase in the number of quakes seen this week may be slowing. But he said seismic activity in the area continues and shows no sign of tapering off anytime soon.
He said he initially thought vigilance would be required for only about a week after the first powerful quake, but that he’s no longer sure.
Aoki said since Saturday’s magnitude 7.3 earthquake, seismic activity has kept spreading to a much wider area than initially anticipated.
He said what’s happening does not fit any pattern of past major earthquakes in Japan, and that this makes it difficult to forecast what will happen in the near future.
He also warned that heavy rain falling in the quake-hit areas on Thursday will increase the risk of landslides.
Source and image: NHK
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