The 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes (Japanese: 平成28年熊本地震, Hepburn: Heisei 28-nen Kumamoto jishin) were a series of earthquakes, including a magnitude 7.0 mainshock which struck at 01:25 JST on April 16, 2016 (16:25 UTC on April 15) beneath Kumamoto City of Kumamoto Prefecture in Kyushu Region, Japan, at a depth of about 10 kilometres (6.2 miles), and a foreshock earthquake with a magnitude 6.2 at 21:26 JST (12:26 UTC) on April 14, 2016, at a depth of about 11 kilometres (6.8 miles).
In total, the two earthquakes killed 277 people and injured 2,809 others, a majority of them indirectly, This earthquake sequence was the deadliest in Japan since the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, until the 2024 Noto earthquake. Of these, 50 deaths were directly caused by the earthquake, 218 were disaster-related deaths (災害関連死, Saigai-kanren-shi) caused by aggravation of injuries from the earthquake or aggravation of illnesses during evacuation, and 5 of the deaths caused by the heavy rains from June 19–25 were related to the earthquake.
Severe damage occurred in Kumamoto and Ōita Prefectures, with numerous structures collapsing and catching fire.
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