Japan worked to return to normal on Friday, as nearly 44,500 people evacuated their homes and settled into temporary shelters after Thursday evening's quake, reported between 6.2 and 6.5 on the Richter magnitude scale, which is classified as "strong." " I'm sure we have to be ready for a prolonged evacuation , but I don't have a sense of reality about this," one Kyushu Island resident told The Japan Times.