M5.5 earthquake near Aso, Kumamoto

What happened

A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck 8 km NNE of Aso, Japan on 18 Apr 2016, 11:42 UTC at a depth of 11 km.

Earthquakes of this size are classed as Moderate. Can damage poorly built structures close to the epicentre. This was a shallow earthquake, which tends to be felt more strongly at the surface.

The nearest town in our records is Aso, about 9 km away in Kumamoto, Japan.