Japan

Authorities in Japan are urging members of the public to keep calm after a large volcano erupted on Saturday morning.  The eruption follows Thursday’s 6.5. earthquake and Friday’s 7.0 – which many experts now believe to be a precursor to something much bigger. The government have decided to keep the alert level at a 2 out of 5, claiming they are not yet sure if the events are related. According to RT News: Plumes of smoke rose some 100 meters into the sky, according to local media and videos captured by witnesses. The eruption of Mt.

The massive magnitude 7.3 earthquake that struck Japan this afternoon, the strongest since the devastating quake of 2011, took place at night local time, and as such there was little available media coverage. As Japan wakes up, much of the destruction becomes apparent.

For the second day in a row, an earthquake has slammed southwestern Japan near the island of Kyushu. The quake, which was initially rated at 7.4 and later downgraded, hit at 1.26am on Saturday, local time. Kyushu is still recovering from yesterday’s quake which injured thousands and killed nine. A tsunami warning was issued, but has now been lifted. Are these quakes the prelude to a much larger event? USA Today reports: Friday’s earthquake was centered only a half mile from Kumamoto, the capital city of the Kumamoto prefecture on the island of Kyushu, according to the U.S.

A day after yesterday's "biggest quake since 2011's tsunami," Japan was just struck by a Magnitude 7.1 earthquake...

• *EARTHQUAKE REPORTED TO HAVE HIT AT 01:25:04 JAPAN TIME: JMA
• *7.1 MAG. EARTHQUAKE KYUSHU JAPAN :EMSC

and officials have issued a tsunami advisory for southern Japan...

• *JMA ISSUES TSUNAMI WARNING/ADVISORY FOR KUMAMOTO JAPAN

Today's quake is more than 10 times stronger than yesterday's.

As the world is now fully aware, The BOJ surprised markets in January when it set a –0.1% rate on some deposits that banks place at the central bank, effective from mid-February. Its move was designed to encourage banks to lend more, spurring higher spending and inflation. Things are not working so well...

And now, as The Wall Street Journal reports, some are already doubting the policy...