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: EU reopens to 14 countries but excludes the US
- More: FAA extensions to pilot regulatory relief
- More: North Atlantic expanded data link mandate
- More: “Operation: Paperwork Misery” – new US rules on pilot data reporting are coming soon
- More: The impact of Covid restrictions on Medevac ops
More reading:
- Latest: EU reopens to 14 countries but excludes the US
- Latest: FAA extensions to pilot regulatory relief
- Latest: North Atlantic expanded data link mandate
- Safe Airspace: Risk Database
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