7.1-magnitude earthquake hits southwest Japan

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.1 struck Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on Tuesday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

The temblor occurred at around 4:27 p.m. local time at a depth of about 10 km, measuring max 7 on Japan's seismic intensity scale in the hardest-hit areas in the prefecture, the weather agency said. A tsunami warning of one meter has been issued for the Ariake Sea and Yatsushiro Sea in southwestern Japan.