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'Drum tower' collapses at Japan's quake-hit Kumamoto Castle
by Staff Writers
Tokyo (AFP) June 21, 2018

Powerful 6.1-magnitude quake strikes Vanuatu: USGS
Sydney (AFP) June 21, 2018 - A powerful 6.1-magnitude earthquake hit Vanuatu Friday, US seismologists said, but there were no immediate reports of damage and no tsunami warning issued.

The quake struck at a depth of 21 kilometers (13 miles) some 30 kilometers west of the Pacific nation's capital Port Vila, the US Geological Survey said.

USGS said there was low likelihood of casualties and damage although it added that recent earthquakes in the area had caused secondary hazards such as landslides.

"Definitely shaking would have been felt in the area, but we have received no reports yet of any damage," Geoscience Australia duty seismologist Hugh Glanville told AFP.

"Earthquakes are quite common in the area although being so close to Port Vila is more unusual. There will be a few aftershocks in the days and weeks ahead."

People in the region live in structures that are highly vulnerable to earthquake shaking, USGS said, although some resistant buildings exist.

Vanuatu, with a population of about 280,000 spread over 65 inhabited islands, is regarded as one of the world's most disaster-prone countries.

It sits on the so-called "Pacific Rim of Fire," making it vulnerable to strong earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, while powerful cyclones also regularly lash the islands.

A tower at the historic, quake-damaged Kumamoto Castle in southern Japan -- one of the country's three premier castles and once a major tourist attraction -- has collapsed, an official said Thursday.

Heavy rain at the castle -- originally built in 1607 during Japan's feudal era -- caused a stone wall supporting the structure to crumble.

The spectacular collapse came amid a 20-year project to repair damage to the castle following a series of devastating quakes in April 2016.

The castle complex is surrounded by hundreds of cherry trees and was once a huge tourist draw, but had been closed to the public since the quakes.

The damaged "Mototaiko Yagura" tower was located close to the main gate of the castle, Tatsuo Nomoto, a municipal official at the castle, told AFP.

"Stories have it that it was used to beat drums when people came through the main gate," he said.

A guard patrolling the castle complex found the tower in ruins late Wednesday, he said, adding that no one was injured in the incident.

The tower had already been severely damaged by the 2016 quakes, which killed 267 people and injured more than 2,800 others.

The castle was devastated during a civil war in the late 1800s, with the existing buildings rebuilt in subsequent decades.

Japan is prone to natural disasters such as earthquakes and heavy rains routinely cause landslides.

Most recently, Japan's second city of Osaka experienced a major quake that killed at least five while injuring 370 others.


Related Links
Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters
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SHAKE AND BLOW
'Slow earthquakes' on San Andreas Fault increase risk of large quakes, say ASU scientists
Tempe AZ (SPX) Jun 20, 2018
Geologists have long thought that the central section of California's famed San Andreas Fault - from San Juan Bautista southward to Parkfield, a distance of about 80 miles - has a steady creeping movement that provides a safe release of energy. Creep on the central San Andreas during the past several decades, so the thinking goes, has reduced the chance of a big quake that ruptures the entire fault from north to south. However new research by two Arizona State University geophysicists shows ... read more

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