ANKARA

Japan began evacuating its citizens from the southwest islands on Friday amid recurring tremors.

Authorities began evacuating residents from the village of Toshima on Akusekijima, one of the Toshima Islands, who left by ship for a port in Kagoshima, where they are expected to stay in temporary accommodations, NHK reported.

Toshima village is made up of a chain of islands. Over the last two weeks, the area has been shaken by a series of earthquakes.

Officials are warning residents to be on the lookout for additional earthquakes with magnitudes as low as 6, as well as the possibility of mudslides caused by expected rainfall.

On Thursday, a 5.5 magnitude earthquake struck the Tokara, a group of small islands in the southwestern Kagoshima province, after over 1,000 quakes were felt in the area in the past two weeks.

Since June 21, the area has experienced over 1,000 earthquakes, the lowest of which was 1 magnitude.

Earthquakes measuring a lower 5 magnitude were also recorded on Monday and Wednesday.

On Thursday, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said that the government will take all necessary measures in response to the series of earthquakes that have struck the Tokara Islands.