No major casualties reported after 6.6-magnitude quake hits west Japan, seven people with light injuries

No major damages or fatal casualties had been reported after an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.6 hit western Japan on Wednesday night, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters early Thursday.

The quake struck at around 11:14 p.m. local time (1414 GMT), registering lower 6 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 in Ainan, Ehime Prefecture, and Sukumo, Kochi Prefecture, both on Shikoku Island, with the epicenter in the Bungo Channel, a strait separating the islands of Kyushu and Shikoku, at a depth of 39 km, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).

The quake left seven people with light injuries in Ehime and Kochi, and there were minor damages in some areas, including ruptured water pipes, dangling power cables, fallen streetlights, and a landslide on a national roadway, public broadcaster NHK reported Thursday morning.

The weather agency initially reported the quake as magnitude 6.4 but later revised the figure to 6.6.

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Magnitude    6.2
Region    SHIKOKU, JAPAN
Date time    2024-04-17 14:14:45.9 UTC
Location    33.162 ; 132.387
Depth    26 km
Distance    74 km E of Ōita, Japan / pop: 448,000 / local time: 23:14:45.9 2024-04-17
17 km SW of Uwajima, Japan / pop: 58,900 / local time: 23:14:45.9 2024-04-17