A powerful magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Japan’s southwestern Kumamoto Prefecture on Tuesday, trapping people inside a shopping mall, injuring dozens and causing widespread disruption across the island of Kyushu.
The earthquake struck at 4:27 p.m. local time with a shallow depth of around 10 kilometers, prompting authorities to issue a temporary tsunami advisory for the Ariake and Yatsushiro seas. The advisory was lifted within hours after no significant tsunami was observed.
Shopping Mall Collapse Leaves People Trapped
Emergency services said part of the second floor of the Aeon Mall in Kashima town collapsed, leaving multiple people trapped inside. Local media also reported an explosion at the shopping center following the earthquake, with rescue teams deployed to search for survivors.
More than 50 people were reported injured, with around 10 of them hurt at an elderly care home. Hospitals across the region were treating the injured as emergency crews continued rescue operations.
Power Outages and Transport Disruptions
The quake caused extensive damage to roads, bridges and buildings, while approximately 40,000 homes lost electricity. Rail services, including Shinkansen bullet trains, were suspended, and operations at Kumamoto Airport were disrupted. More than 150,000 residents were advised to evacuate as authorities warned of strong aftershocks in the coming days.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi established a government task force to coordinate the emergency response. Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority said no abnormalities had been detected at nearby nuclear facilities.
Japan is one of the world’s most earthquake-prone countries, experiencing around 1,500 earthquakes each year due to its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire. The affected Kumamoto region was also devastated by a series of powerful earthquakes in 2016 that killed more than 270 people.
The earthquake comes just over a month after a rare doublet earthquake sequence struck Venezuela on June 24, when two powerful quakes measuring magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 hit the country just 39 seconds apart. The disaster killed around 5,000 people, injured thousands more and caused an estimated US$19.6 billion in direct damage, making it one of the deadliest earthquakes in Venezuela’s modern history.
