Japanese authorities have evacuated Toshima Island after more than 1,000 earthquakes hit the region.
According to Independent, authorities on Thursday, July 3, issued evacuation orders for a small island village following hundreds of quakes in less than two weeks.
As per the Japan Meteorological Agency, a magnitude 5.5 quake struck the Akuseki Island in Kagoshima. The epicentre of the tremors was off the coast at a depth of about 20 km.
The 89 residents of Toshima village, which has seven small islands, left their homes by ship and headed to Kagoshima for temporary shelter. The first group of displaced people left early Friday morning from Amami Oshima Island.
The ship makes a stop at all seven islands before reaching Kagoshima port. As of June 2025, the combined population of all of the islands was 668, reported the Japan Times.
Officials believe that the evacuation could last a week, as residents of the nearby islands might also need to leave their homes amid frequent seismic activities.
Furthermore, the last time a similar evacuation was carried out in Toshima was back in December 2021, when a powerful earthquake hit Akuseki.
It is worth noting that Japan is located in the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” which means that it is one of the countries in the world that are most prone to earthquakes because of their geographical location.
