Update 4/15/16 (5:00 PM): Below is a recent update from Ken Young, field leader of the Japan Alliance mission:
The news is still sketchy, but beginning in the late evening of April 14, there were a series of mammoth earthquakes in the southern island of Kyushu. The government has officially called it “The Heisei 28 (28th year of this emperor’s reign) Kumamoto Earthquake.” Kumamoto is the prefecture that has been the center of this destruction; but the effects have extended to the surrounding prefectures too.
The first of the powerful ones was 7.0 on the Japanese scale, which goes up to only 7. Since then, there have been hundreds of powerful quakes and aftershocks. Early this morning (April 16) in the midst of many quakes above 4 on the Japanese scale, another 7.3 quake struck the same region. I awoke (in the Tokyo area—far from Kyushu) at around 4:30 a.m. and turned on the TV to get the latest news. It is only 6:10 a.m. right now, but that region has had dozens of powerful quakes in less than two hours. They continue as I am writing. There was also a report last night of some increase in activity in local active volcanoes on that island.
Figures are still incomplete. At this time, however, there are reports of 10+ confirmed deaths, thousands of serious injuries, and more than 105,000 residences destroyed or heavily damaged. The extent of destruction to businesses, government facilities, transportation systems, and other infrastructure has not yet been determined.
It has just become light outside; more information will be available as the day progresses. At this point, however, only emergency personnel are permitted in the region for rescue and aid work. Because of the almost continual quakes, many thousands of people are staying outside in the open air. The temperatures dip into the mid 50s and low 60s at night, and heavy rain is predicted for today.
As of this writing, I have received no news concerning injuries and damage to Alliance people and churches. The Alliance mission has no ministries in Kyushu; but the national Japan Alliance church has two congregations in Kyushu: Fukuoka City and Oita City. Global Ministries (of the C&MA in Canada) has one church in Fukuoka also. All of these churches are on the northern, opposite end of Kyushu in relation to the center of the quakes. Although those cities have been spared the brunt of the destruction, several large quakes shook both cities—especially Oita—this morning.
Posted 4/15/16 (1:15 PM): As reported on CNN and other major news outlets, a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck early Saturday in Japan’s Kyushu island, the same region where a 6.2-quake struck two days earlier and claimed nine lives. The latest quake was felt as far away as Tokyo, and it is expected that significant devastation in the area surrounding the quake will be reported in the hours and days ahead. A tsunami advisory had been issued for the region but has since been lifted.
At this time, there are no reports of loss of life, injury, or property damage among the Alliance family there. There are no Alliance workers or churches in the immediate quake area.
Please pray for those who have suffered devastation from the two quakes and for the safety of those currently engaged in rescue and recover efforts.