There was a strong earthquake (magnitude 5.1) during the night, but there was no major physical damage on Akuseki Island, which was hit the hardest. This was shared by Genichiro Kubo, who lives on a nearby island.
However, the continuous shaking since June 21 has made people very stressed. Many are not able to sleep properly.
Out of 89 people living on Akuseki Island, 44 have left and gone to Kagoshima by Sunday. 15 others also left from another nearby island, Kubo said in a news conference.
This area has seven islands where people live and five islands with no people. It takes around 11 hours by ferry to reach Kagoshima.
Since June 21, the area has had 1,582 small earthquakes, which experts call a “swarm” of quakes.
Scientists think the shaking may be caused by an underwater volcano and magma (hot, melted rock) moving underground. But they say they don’t know when it will stop.
Mayor Kubo said, “We can’t say what will happen next or when this will end.”
There was a similar situation in September 2023, when 346 earthquakes were recorded.
Japan is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world. It sits on four big tectonic plates and is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, where earthquakes and volcanoes are common.
Japan, with around 125 million people, usually has about 1,500 earthquakes every year, making up 18% of all earthquakes in the world.
Some foreign tourists have avoided visiting Japan because of false rumors on social media saying a big earthquake would happen soon.
One thing that scared people was a manga comic re-released in 2021. It wrongly predicted a major disaster on July 5, 2025 — but that did not happen.
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