Strong Quake Hits Japan's Kumamoto

Tokyo, June 26 (Jiji Press)--A strong earthquake jolted the southwestern Japan prefecture of Kumamoto on Sunday night.

The temblor struck around 9:44 p.m. (12:44 p.m. GMT), measuring lower 5, the fifth-highest level on the country's seismic intensity scale, in the town of Misato.

The quake, with an estimated magnitude of 4.7, occurred at a depth of 9 kilometers, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

It occurred in the same area where two powerful quakes, measuring 7, the highest level on the Japanese scale, struck in April 2016. Their relationship is immediately unknown because time passed, the agency said.

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