A 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck southern Japan on Tuesday, killing at least 13 people and injuring hundreds. The quake, which hit Kumamoto prefecture on Kyushu island, caused widespread power and water outages, affecting tens of thousands of households.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi described the situation as a "race against time," saying, "There are people who are still waiting to be rescued." She added, "We will go all out to find and rescue as many people as we can."
Damage and casualties
Government spokesman Minoru Kihara reported that as of Wednesday morning, 9,186 people had sought refuge in 506 evacuation centres across five prefectures, including Kumamoto and Fukuoka. Seven people were seriously injured and 29 had minor injuries. The quake registered a maximum 7 on the Japanese shindo intensity scale.
Rescue crews searched through rubble at a paper mill in Yatsushiro where a chimney collapsed, leaving nine missing and two workers found in cardiac arrest. An explosion at an Aeon shopping mall in the prefecture killed two women in their 20s and injured another person. The cause of the explosion remained unclear, though a government official noted a gas leak at the mall.
Government response
The Japanese military mobilised 3,600 personnel for disaster relief and sent 20 aircraft to assess damage from the air. Hundreds of first responders from neighbouring prefectures arrived Tuesday evening.
Aftershocks and warnings
The Japan Meteorological Agency warned of further strong quakes and landslides for about a week, as the shallow earthquake triggered seismic activity. More than 60 aftershocks, ranging from magnitude 1 to 4, had been recorded by Wednesday morning. A tsunami warning was issued but lifted within two hours.
Infrastructure and utilities
Nearly 50,000 households lost power and 140,000 lost water. Temperatures were forecast to reach 35°C with high humidity, raising the risk of heatstroke. Many people slept in their cars fearing aftershocks. Relatively few buildings collapsed due to strict construction standards.
JR Kyushu suspended services including bullet trains, and Kumamoto airport closed its runway. Telecoms operators KDDI and NTT Docomo reported mobile phone disruptions due to power shortages and transmission failures. No irregularities were reported at nuclear power stations, according to Japan's nuclear regulation authority.
Eyewitness accounts
Chiharu Hara, a 35-year-old recruitment agent in Kumamoto, told AFP she was "terrified" when the quake struck. "The office swayed violently side to side. I was afraid it would collapse. Everyone panicked," she said.
Seismic context
The quake's epicentre was about 12 miles south of Kumamoto. The US Geological Survey initially reported a magnitude of 7.1 but revised it to 6.8; the JMA recorded magnitude 7.1 and the highest shindo level of 7. A 6.1 aftershock followed. The Geospatial Information Authority of Japan reported crustal movement of 84cm in Yatsushiro and up to 40cm in Kumamoto city.
Japan, located on the "ring of fire," experiences a tremor every five minutes and accounts for about 20% of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or higher. A 2016 earthquake in Kumamoto killed 275 people, and the 2011 magnitude 9.0 quake and tsunami left around 18,500 dead or missing.
