Caption: Minami Aso Township, Kumamoto Prefecture. A second large earthquake struck southern Japan early on Saturday, April 16, killing at least 11 people. Screencap from ANN YouTube channel. By some counts, as many as threes large earthquake have struck Japan's western island of Kyushu between April 14 and April 16. At least 37 people have died so far. Collapsed houses, flooding, landslides, destroyed roads and bridges — plus the possibility of an imminent volcanic eruption — have combined to make this series of earthquakes Japan's worst natural disaster since the “Triple Disaster” of March, 2011. The following tweet shows how widespread earthquakes are across far western Japan (values indicate “shindo” or earthquake intensity, rather than magnitude): 【特設：熊本地震】阿蘇山のある熊本県南阿蘇村で震度６強を観測するなど地震が相次いでいて、専門家は「火山活動に影響が無いとは言いきれない状況にある」と指摘しています。https://t.co/yBCyJhzIe3 — NHKニュース (@nhk_news) April 15, 2016 [Main Tweet] Powerful earthquakes continue in Kyushu, including in the vicinty of Minami Aso, home of [the] active Mount Aso volcano in Kumamoto Prefecture. [Image caption] NHK Special Coverage: In [the] early morning [of[ April 16, Kumamoto Prefecture was violently shaken by two strong Shindo 6 earthquakes. Aftershocks continue, and the Japan Meteorological Bureau cautions citizens to be safe. Ogawa Hajime, a journalist working with Mainichi News, notes that there were actually three ⤔ not two — earthquakes: 3つの地震。14日と15日は前震、16日が本震だった。この図はそれがよくわかる。 pic.twitter.com/QqMVbKXgWG — 小川一 (@pinpinkiri) April 15, 2016 Three earthquakes, and the April 16 quake (the latest one) is apparently the main one. This map shows when and where they happened. [Map, clockwise, from lower right: Mashiki (益城) in center] April 14, 9:26 p.m., Magnitude 6.5 / Shindo 7; April 15, 12:03 a.m., M6.4 / Shindo 6; April 16, 1:25 a.m., M7.3, Shindo 6. The latest quake occurred at 1:35 a.m. local time on Saturday, April 16. The epicenter was once again located in the city of Kumamoto, but damage was reported throughout the island, notably in the Kumamoto and Oita prefectures. The village of Minami Aso, in eastern Kumamoto, at the foot of Mount Aso, Japan's largest active volcano, was hit particularly hard. The earthquake, combined with heavy rains, caused landslides that washed out roads. 南阿蘇村中心部へのアプローチが寸断。路面は十メートル下に転落している。こうした道路崩落が救助活動を困難にしている。この辺りの地盤は余震で大きく揺れる。かなり危険だ。 pic.twitter.com/r9fG6dbeaz — 竹内明 Mei Takeuchi (@nygangsta0327) April 16, 2016 All approaches to the heart of the municipality of Minami Aso are blocked. A crevasse has dropped the road surface by as much as 10 meters. Landslides like this are hindering relief and rescue efforts. Large, violent aftershocks continue. It's dangerous to be here. The town Uto, about １０ kilometers southwest of Kumamoto Prefecture, was also reported to be hard hit by the earthquake. 宇土市役所の庁舎… 災害対策本部なだけに気が気じゃないです… 天草も揺れてます… 熊本市内でも、市民病院が傾いていて避難してるそうです。 まだ余震が続くみたいなので、気をつけてください。#地震#拡散希望 pic.twitter.com/km1TUYWhWi — ARIA@南極行ってきた。 (@07_good) April 15, 2016 Uto Municipal Hall: this is supposed to be the disaster management center. Amakusa (also in Kumamoto Prefecture, southwest of Uto) has also been hit by an earthquake. In Kumamoto City apparently casualties are flooding in. Aftershocks are continuing so please take care of yourselves. Heavy rains over the weekend have also caused massive landslides that have wiped out roads, destroyed train tracks, and made life miserable for evacuees stuck out in the open. 【熊本・南阿蘇村の被災現場は】 山の斜面が広い範囲で崩れ、大量の水が流れだしています。 橋が寸断されている様子も見えています。 pic.twitter.com/tJ7L0guDaJ — ＮＨＫ生活・防災 (@nhk_seikatsu) April 15, 2016 [Scenes of Disaster in Minami Aso, Kumamoto] A large section of hillside has collapsed as torrential flooding continues. We can see that a bridge has been washed out. There are also reports that dams have been weakened, raising fears of collapse and subsequent flooding of low-lying areas. While the number of casualties may likely rise, 37 people have been reported dead thus far, with hundreds more wounded and tens of thousands left homeless. Up to one hundred people were trapped under buildings. 【速報】益城町などで多数の人が『生き埋め』との情報！ 熊本の病院では数えきれないほどのケガ人が押し寄せている！ ※専門家：今回のＭ７.１が『本震』の可能性！https://t.co/BUGFDWRAby#熊本地震 pic.twitter.com/iCMr5D7Wy3 — ゆる系速報・ぽん太くん (@JPNG5) April 15, 2016 In Mashiki Township (east of Kumamoto City) there are reports of dozens of people trapped under toppled buildings. There are large numbers of injured reportedly being treated at Kumamoto hospitals. Note: according to an expert, this Magnitude 7.1 quake is the actually the main quake (and the April 14 quake was merely a precursor). Even newer homes could not withstand the force of the tremors, and fire from ruptured gas lines engulfed many communities.