M5.3 earthquake near Shimada, Kumamoto

What happened

A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck 13 km ESE of Kumamoto, Japan on 15 Apr 2016, 16:33 UTC at a depth of 10 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 Shimada, about 3 km away in Kumamoto, Japan.