The southwestern Japan prefectures of Kumamoto and Oita on Tuesday marked the eighth anniversary of massive earthquakes in April 2016 that claimed 276 lives.At 1:25 a.m., the exact time of the second and most severe quake, families in Aso, one of the hardest-hit areas in Kumamoto, prayed for the deceased. In the town of Mashiki, where 45 people lost their lives, municipal employees held a moment of silence in the morning.On April 14, 2016, a magnitude 6.5 quake struck the region, followed by a M7.3 temblor two days later. The disaster highlighted the issue of indirect deaths, with 218 of th…READ FULL ARTICLE
