Two large earthquakes struck Japan and Ecuador in the past week, with a longer term impact on International Flight Ops.
Japan
At 0124LT Saturday a 7.3 quake hit Japan, centred on Kyushu, the large island at the southern end of the country.
Airports: RJFT/Kumamoto is closed UFN to all traffic. RJFF/Fukuoka operating normally, RJFU/Nagasaki operating normally. In addition, in Kyushu: – Many roads, bridges damaged, Railways out of service, Region should be avoided.
Ecuador
On the same day, a 7.4 earthquake centred towards the north-west of Ecuador.
SEMT/Manta, a regular tech stop for traffic between the US and South America, is closed to normal operations after the Terminal and Control Tower suffered significant damage.
Collapsed Control Tower at Manta
More on the topic:
- More: Airport Spy: Real World Reports from Crews
- More: New NAT Doc 007: North Atlantic Changes from March 2026
- More: Guided Visuals: What They Are and Why They’re So Useful
- More: Singapore Ops Update: Two New Rules to Know Before You Go
- More: EU-LISA: The BizAv Guide
More reading:
- Latest: Airport Spy: Real World Reports from Crews
- Latest: New NAT Doc 007: North Atlantic Changes from March 2026
- Latest: Guided Visuals: What They Are and Why They’re So Useful
- Safe Airspace: Risk Database
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