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.
More on the topic:
- More: Delays and Diversions at TNCM/St Maarten
- More: World Cup 2026 Ops Guide – USA, Mexico and Canada
- More: FAA Warns on Runway Length Data and Overrun Risk
- More: EASA’s New Cyber and Data Risk Rule for Operators in Europe
- More: Airport Spy: Real World Reports from Crews
More reading:
- Latest: Delays and Diversions at TNCM/St Maarten
- Latest: World Cup 2026 Ops Guide – USA, Mexico and Canada
- Latest: FAA Warns on Runway Length Data and Overrun Risk
- Safe Airspace: Risk Database
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