Residents of Akusekijima Island in Southwestern Japan Still Concerned About Earthquakes After Strong Tremors Hit 1 Month Ago

By Minami Kobayashi / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

16:57 JST, August 3, 2025

AKUSEKIJIMA ISLAND, Kagoshima — Sunday marked one month since strong earthquakes that reached lower 6 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale hit Akusekijima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture, and residents are still concerned that strong tremors may occur again.

Several strong earthquakes with epicenters under the sea occurred near the Tokara Islands, which include Akusekijima Island. Akusekijima Island belongs to Toshima Village in the prefecture.

Temblors have been occurring less frequently, and residents who evacuated the island have been returning home.

However, the area along the island chain has also been rocked by numerous earthquakes in the past, and residents’ fears about more quakes have not been eased.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, earthquakes measuring at least 1 on the Japanese intensity scale — which has a maximum level of 7 — had occurred 2,241 times as of 5 p.m. on Saturday.

I departed from Kagoshima Port and traveled on a ship for about 10 hours and 30 minutes and arrived at Akusekijima Island at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday. The slope of a mountain seen from the port had partially collapsed.

I did not see any collapsed structures in residential areas, and there were no remarkable traces of the many earthquakes that had occurred.

However, Shigehisa Nishi, 58, who runs a minshuku inn where I lodged, and his wife Keiko, 56, said that almost no guests have stayed at the inn and the revenue from their business since July has fallen about 90% from a year ago.

Passersby were not seen on the roads in the local community nor were there any tourists.

The village government offered economic assistance of ¥50,000 in cash per household for 155 people in a total of 79 households on Akusekijima and Kodakarajima islands.

“Although the cash aid is helpful, I’m anxious because we don’t know how long the earthquakes will continue and whether tourists who lodge at our inn will return,” said Keiko.

In the wake of the strongest quake which registered a lower 6 that occurred on July 3, a total of 71 residents from Akusekijima and Kodakarajima islands evacuated from the islands.

They had stayed in hotels and other places in Kagoshima City and many have returned to the islands by Aug. 2.

“The tremors were so violent that I feared electricity poles might fall down,” said Kazunori Arikawa, 73, who runs a minshuku inn, when describing the strongest temblor.

He evacuated to Kagoshima City but returned to the island several times to land his fishing boat because a typhoon was predicted to be approaching.

A number of earthquakes also hit the area in 2021 and 2023. Therefore, residents must be prepared for an emergency.

When I visited a branch office of the village government on Akusekijima Island where a shelter is located, Yuki Matsushita, 36, the chief of the branch office, showed me the emergency supplies. They included canned and packed foods that could last for three days for residents and mats to sleep on.

“Some people become nervous when thinking about the earthquakes,” she said. “Although the tremors are weak now, there hasn’t been a day when zero quakes hit.” She is staying vigilant about more earthquakes occurring.

Some people noted problems regarding evacuation to outside of the island.

In Akusekijima and Kodakarajima islands, a total of nine households keep 182 cattle. For farmers who cannot leave the islands because they have to take care of livestock, the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry decided to subsidize half the cost of evacuating animals from the islands and keeping them at evacuation sites. However, as of the end of July, no farmer on the islands had applied for the subsidy.

“If I move my cattle off this island, it will cause them stress, and the burden will be heavy,” said Kazuya Arikawa, 60, who keeps 55 cattle on Akusekijima Island. “Transporting them is the last option.