FUTENMA, Japan (Reuters) – U.S. military Osprey aircraft took off on Sunday (April 17) from Futenma U.S. military base in Okinawa, Japan, to provide aid for those affected by multiple large-scale earthquakes in the Kumamoto region in the south of the country.
The aircraft are scheduled to land first at a Japanese Self Defence Force base in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi prefecture, to load food and water for the evacuees. As early as Monday (April 18), the aircraft were due to depart for Minami-aso village, Kumamoto prefecture, where houses have collapsed and a huge landslide has swallowed a public road.
A 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck the region on early Saturday (April 16) morning, following a 6.4 magnitude quake on Thursday (April 14). At least 42 people were killed and some 110,000 injured, 190 of whom are in a serious condition, the government has said. Nine people are still missing.
Self Defence Force personnel, as well as police and fire department personnel, have been on a constant search and rescue mission in the quake-hit areas, including Kumamoto city, Minami-aso village, and Mashiki city, since the disasters.
The epicentre of Saturday’s quake was near the city of Kumamoto at a shallow depth of 10 km (six miles), the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said. The shallower a quake, the more likely it is to cause damage.
Japan is on the seismically active “ring of fire” around the Pacific Ocean and has building codes aimed at helping structures withstand earthquakes.
