Powerful 7.1 Earthquake Strikes Southern Japan; Dozens Missing After Shopping Mall Explosion
TOKYO — A powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck Japan’s southern Kumamoto prefecture on Tuesday, collapsing buildings, tearing up highways, and leaving dozens of workers missing after a massive explosion ripped through a shopping mall. The quake, which struck around midday local time, also knocked out power to nearly 50,000 homes and forced the suspension of rail and air travel across the region.
Speaking from her office in Tokyo, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said authorities were still assessing the full scale of the damage in an area that was devastated by a deadly quake a decade ago. “We have already been informed that people have been injured. Power outages and fires have occurred in some areas, and there has also been damage to roads and bridges and the collapse of buildings,” Takaichi told reporters. She urged residents to evacuate to safe shelters and follow official instructions.
The most dramatic incident unfolded at a large Aeon shopping mall in Kumamoto city, where an explosion rocked the building shortly after the initial tremors. Around 20 to 30 workers were unaccounted for, according to public broadcaster NHK. Fire services earlier said multiple people were trapped inside. Local news outlets quoted police saying several had died or were presumed dead, though Reuters could not immediately confirm those reports. Video footage showed one side of the mall — home to roughly 200 stores — torn away, exposing twisted steel beams and scattering debris across a vast parking lot. Ambulances and fire engines lined up outside as rescue teams combed through the wreckage.
A spokesperson for Aeon said customers and employees were evacuated right after the quake, and the exact cause of the explosion remained unclear. Authorities are investigating a possible gas leak, NTV reported. Witness Kazuya Tsurunaga told TBS he was cleaning up dishes broken by the earthquake inside a pub about 300 meters from the mall when the blast struck. “It was a huge impact,” he said. “A large cloud of smoke billowed up, and because the wind happened to be blowing toward the shop, the area around us was in a state like volcanic ash was falling.”
In other incidents, a chimney collapse at a Nippon Paper Industries factory left multiple people unaccounted for, NHK reported. Two hospitals each said they were treating more than 50 people, some in serious condition. Several passengers aboard high-speed trains at the time of the quake were also injured, operators said. One person died when a building collapsed in a town near the epicenter, TV Asahi reported.
Japan, which sits along the “Ring of Fire” — a horseshoe-shaped zone of volcanic and seismic activity encircling the Pacific — accounts for about 20% of the world’s earthquakes of magnitude 6.0 or greater. Tuesday’s quake was the strongest to hit Kumamoto since a 7.3-magnitude temblor in 2016 that killed 275 people and injured thousands. That earlier disaster also damaged thousands of buildings, including Kumamoto Castle, a major tourist attraction. Officials said parts of the castle’s stone walls collapsed again in Tuesday’s quake.
Around 300,000 people were instructed to go to evacuation centers, and hundreds of soldiers were deployed to assist rescue operations as aftershocks continued to rattle the region. The Japan Meteorological Agency warned residents to stay alert for further strong quakes for about a week, as well as landslides. About 100 small aftershocks have already hit Kumamoto since the initial jolt, the agency said.
Major technology firms, including chipmaker TSMC, Sony, and Fujifilm, evacuated workers from their plants after the quake. TSMC said its site was unaffected and operations were gradually resuming. However, semiconductor equipment maker Tokyo Electron said it was suspending operations at two factories in Kumamoto through Wednesday, while Honda said it would temporarily idle its motorcycle plant there. Kyushu Electric Power reported about 48,000 homes lost power, while railway company JR Kyushu suspended all services, including bullet trains. Kumamoto airport shut its runway, forcing airlines to divert or cancel flights. Telecom operators KDDI and Docomo reported disruptions to mobile services due to power shortages and transmission-line failures.
A tsunami warning issued shortly after the quake was later lifted. Japan’s nuclear regulation authority said there were no irregularities reported at nuclear power stations in the area. As night fell, with thousands of homes still without power, authorities warned residents about the risk of heatstroke as temperatures were forecast to reach 34 degrees Celsius (93 degrees Fahrenheit) on Wednesday.
The earthquake underscores the persistent seismic threat facing Japan, where preparedness and rapid response remain critical. The government has deployed additional rescue teams and is coordinating with local authorities to address the evolving situation.