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The following video presents Breaking News 4/14/16: Strong Quake Rocks Southern Japan; No Abnormalities At Sendai Nuke Plant:
Strong quakes rock Kumamoto
Officials at Japan’s Meteorological Agency are warning people to be on the alert for aftershocks following a magnitude 6.5 earthquake that rattled Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on Thursday.
The officials say the quake struck at around 9:26 PM local time. The focus was at a depth of 11 kilometers.
An intensity of 7 on the Japanese scale of 0 to 7 was felt in Mashiki Town in the prefecture.
Some areas in the prefecture and neighboring Miyazaki Prefecture registered intensities of up to 6 minus.
No tsunami alert was issued after the quake. Meteorological Agency instruments did not detect any tsunami.
Agency officials say they have observed tremors with intensities of 3 and above, believed to be aftershocks, in Kumamoto.
At 0:03 AM on Friday, a jolt with a magnitude of 6.4 rocked Kumamoto. The focus was 10 kilometers deep. Intensities of up to 6 plus were recorded in the prefecture.
The officials are warning that aftershocks with intensities of up to 6 minus could occur for about a week.About 13,000 taking shelter in Kumamoto Prefecture
About 13,000 people are at evacuation sites in the southwestern prefecture of Kumamoto after Thursday’s major earthquake.
As of 3 AM on Friday, nearly 2,000 people were taking shelter at facilities or outdoor in the town of Mashiki, where the quake registered an intensity of 7 on the Japanese scale of 0 to 7. Some 900 of them are staying at a welfare center.
In other parts of the prefecture, around 11,500 people have gone to at least 200 evacuation sites.Thursday’s quake strongest since 2011
Japan’s Meteorological Agency says Thursday’s earthquake, which registered an intensity of 7 on the Japanese scale of zero to 7, was the first since the massive March 2011 earthquake to have that intensity.
Officials also say it was the first time intensities of 5-plus or above were recorded in Kumamoto Prefecture since a quake on October 5th, 2011. An intensity of 5-plus in Kikuchi City was associated with the magnitude 4.5 quake.Scientists warn of strong aftershocks
Scientists at Japan’s Meteorological Agency warn of relatively strong aftershocks that are expected to occur during the next several days.
Gen Aoki of the agency said at a news conference on Thursday night that people in stricken areas should be prepared for the possible collapse of buildings and landslides. He added the aftershocks could have intensities of up to 6-minus on the Japanese scale.
He also said the agency believes Thursday’s quake occurred near a fault that caused major earthquakes several times in the past.
As for Mount Aso, a volcano near the epicenter, agency officials say instruments haven’t detected any change in its activity after the earthquake.
NEWS RELEASE
April 18, 2016
Status of Sony Group Manufacturing Operations Affected by 2016 Kumamoto Earthquakes
(Tokyo, April 18, 2016) Sony Corporation (“Sony”) extends its deepest sympathies to all those affected by the earthquakes in Kumamoto.
Due to the earthquake of April 14 and subsequent earthquakes in the Kumamoto region, the following Sony Group manufacturing sites have been affected:
Operations at Sony Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation’s Kumamoto Technology Center (located in Kikuchi Gun, Kumamoto Prefecture), which primarily manufactures image sensors for digital cameras and security cameras as well as micro-display devices, were halted after the earthquake on April 14, and currently remain suspended. Damage to the site’s building and manufacturing lines is currently being evaluated, and with aftershocks continuing, the timeframe for resuming operations has yet to be determined.
Although some of the manufacturing equipment at Sony Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation’s Nagasaki Technology Center (located in Isahaya City, Nagasaki Prefecture), which is Sony’s main facility for smartphone image sensor production, and Oita Technology Center (located in Oita City, Oita Prefecture), which commenced operations as a wholly-owned facility of Sony Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation on April 1, had been temporarily halted, the affected equipment has been sequentially restarted from April 17, and production has resumed. Sony Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation’s Kagoshima Technology Center (located in Kirishima City, Kagoshima Prefecture) has continued its production operations after the earthquakes, and there have been no major effects on its operations.
Sony has confirmed the safety of all of its and its group companies’ employees in the region affected by the earthquakes.
The impact of these events on Sony’s consolidated results is currently being evaluated.
