After 6.2 maginitude earthquake two days earlier, Japan has now witnessed 7.0 earthquake and thus registered as the second biggest earthquake, after 9.0 magnitude earthquake in 2011.
Earthquake struck Kyushu island in Japan and according to Kumamoto Prefecture's disaster management office, the death toll is currently 7.
The impact has been heavy, witnessing several buildings collapsed. Rescue teams were seen crawling over a collapsed roof in an attempt to find people seeking help. An 80-year-old man was pulled from the rubble, the local TV reported.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said, 23 cases of people being buried under structures were reported so far.
Japan's Fire and Disaster Management Agency said, since Friday, 7,262 people have sought shelter at 375 centers in Kumamoto Prefecture.
Suga further said to perform the rescue operations, 20,000 self-defense forces are being deployed to the region.
The U.S. Geological Survey, reported that, the latest earthquake struck just west-southwest of Kumamoto-shi and about 8 miles south-southeast of Ueki, the epicenter of the late Thursday tremor, that left nine dead.
"No question, this is a large and very important earthquake," said Doug Given, a geophysicist with the USGS. "And it will do a lot of damage."
Meanwhile, Japan’s coastal regions on the Ariake Sea and Yatsushiro Sea were issued tsunami advisory. These advisories are generally issued, when the tsunami height is expected to be between 0.2 and 1 meter (0.65 to 3.3 feet). A warning would be for larger tsunamis.
The agency subsequently lifted all tsunami warnings and advisories.
As Given noted, "the four islands of Japan are on the edge of what's traditionally been known as the 'Ring of Fire'" -- a stretch along parts of the Pacific Ocean prone to volcanoes and earthquakes.
Victor Sardina, a geophysicist in Honolulu, Hawaii, said, the latest quake was about 30 times more powerful than Thursday's quake. He predicted "severe, serious implications in terms of damage and human losses."
According to experts, the shallow depth of the quake -- about 10 kilometers, or 6 miles -- and the densely populated area where it struck could prove to be devastating.
By Phani Ch
