TOKYO (Sputnik) – On Thursday, a magnitude 6.5 earthquake took place in southern Japan, near the regional capital of Kumamoto on Japan's Kyushu island. Multiple aftershocks followed the earthquake. At least nine people were killed and over 760 hospitalized.
"We deeply condole over the earthquake on the island of Kyushu, which claimed human lives and was accompanied by a considerable destruction. We are always ready to come to aid in such situations, if our Japanese neighbors need it," Lavrov said after a meeting with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida.
Japan is seismically active region. In March 2011, a 9.0-magnitude offshore earthquake caused a 46-foot tsunami which hit Japan's Fukushima nuclear power, leading to the leakage of radioactive materials and the shutdown of the plant. The accident is considered to be the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.