Church of the Nazarene Asia-Pacific - 7.0 Earthquake Hits Southern Japan. *** UPDATE

Japan: At approximately 01:25am on Saturday, April 16th, another major earthquake struck southern Japan.

See end of story for updates from Japan Pastors

The U.S. Geological Survey reported that the latest quake struck just west-southwest of Kumamoto-shi and about 8 miles south-southeast of Ueki, the epicenter of the late Thursday tremor that left nine dead.

WESTERN SIDE OF “RING OF FIRE” ROCKED BY EARTHQUAKES – PLEASE PRAY!

As of this time, the situation is very fluid, with first responders just arriving on seen in the pre-dawn hours. It is expected that as the morning progresses the full extent of the damage will become apparent.

* THE FOLLOWING PARAMETERS ARE BASED ON A RAPID PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT AND CHANGES MAY OCCUR (Tsunami Warning Focal Points) distributed by UNESCO. 

 * MAGNITUDE      7.1
 * ORIGIN TIME    0825 AKDT APR 15 2016
                  0925  PDT APR 15 2016
                  1625  UTC APR 15 2016
 * COORDINATES    32.8 NORTH 130.8 EAST
 * DEPTH          6 MILES
 * LOCATION       KYUSHU JAPAN

We are working to establish connection with our Nazarenes in Japan, and will provide updates as information is made available.

Please commit to pray for Japan!

*** Updates – 2016/04/16 – Saturday afternoon (Japan timezone)

Roof damage, Kumamoto Church of the Nazarene

“The first huge earthquake (Magnitude 6.5) hit Kumamoto on Thursday, April 14, at 9:26pm. The church building and inside of the church received very little damage. However, strong aftershocks continued to disturb our sleep that night. I confirmed the safety of our church members, including some members who live in the area receiving the most damage – Mashiki-machi.

Damage at Kumamoto Church of the Nazarene

The second earthquake (Magnitude 7.3) hit on Saturday, April 16, at 1:30 am. My wife, my son and I evacuated from the house to the park in front of the church. The aftershocks continued, so we decided to sleep at the park with some blankets. I confirmed the safety of our church members this morning. However, some of the members’ houses received terrible damage. The church building also was damaged. We decided to cancel tomorrow’s worship service. So far, the life-line (electricity, gas and water) stopped at a limited area including our church. The news said 11 people died and 880 people were injured. Please continue to pray for Kumamoto.”

– Rev. Rev. Makio Nakade, Kumamoto Church of the Nazarene.

“Rev. Furukawa, Japan District Superintendent is asking all churches in Japan to pray and support for the Earthquake victims. Rev. Egami, Japan Nazarene Compassionate Ministries (JNCM) cordinator will visit tomorrow from Tokyo to Kyushu for further support survey

Please continue to pray because the aftershocks are continuing and the places [being impacted] are expanding all over Kushu island, where 13 Nazarene churches exist.”

– Marty Egashira,NCM Japan, on behalf of DS Furukawa, Rev. Nakade, Kumamoto church, Rev. Egami,JNCM and Rev. Dohi, Nazarene Japan secretary.

The following team members have reported in “Safe.”