An isolated islands archipelago southern Japan was affected by more than 900 earthquakes in ten days, the Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA) announced on Wednesday, the inhabitants assuring that they can no longer sleep.
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“The seismic activity has been very important in the seas around the Tokara archipelago since June 21,” said the director of observation of the earthquakes and tsunamis of the JMA, Ayataka Ebita, during a press conference Wednesday after a 5.5 magnitude earthquake recorded in the region at 3.30 p.m. local time (6:30 a.m. GMT).
If no major damage is to be deplored from this earthquake, “their number has exceeded 900” since the start of this strong activity, said Ebita, adding that he could not say when it would stop.
Such a period of seismic activity had already struck the Tokara Islands in September 2023, with 346 earthquakes recorded by the JMA.
The site of the village of Tokara reports that the 700 inhabitants of the archipelago can no longer sleep and that they are tired.
“We have the impression that it is shaking all the time,” says an insular on local television, ensuring that “it is very afraid of just falling asleep”.
“We are not sure when it all will stop. I should think about evacuating my children, ”reports another resident.
With its 125 million inhabitants, Japan is to meet four large tectonic plates, in the heart of the Pacific belt of the Pacific, which makes it one of the most active countries in the world on the seismic level.
The archipelago records approximately 1,500 shackles each year and represents around 18 % of world earthquakes.
On January 1, 2024, an earthquake of magnitude 7.5 – the strongest in the country for more than ten years – struck the Noto peninsula (center). He caused the death of nearly 470 people, including many elderly residents who died in the days that followed.
