A powerful earthquake destroyed many homes in Japan's Honshu island on New Year's Day (Credit: Peacewinds.org/ CC-BY-SA-2.0/ Wikipedia.org)

Honshu, the largest of Japan's four main islands, was hit by a powerful earthquake at 4:10 pm local time on January 1, 2024. The 7.5 magnitude quake and the ensuing aftershocks triggered tsunami warnings across western Japan, sparked fires, and tore apart roads.