A magnitude-7.1 earthquake struck Japan's Kumamoto prefecture at 4:35pm local time on Tuesday, triggering a catastrophic explosion and collapse at a shopping center where police say "quite a few" people are presumed dead. The disaster unfolded as between 20 and 30 workers remained trapped and unreachable inside the Aeon Mall, according to broadcaster NHK.
The initial quake hit just south of the town of Uki, near Kumamoto's capital city, followed by 26 aftershocks ranging in magnitude between 3.3 and 4.5 before a second major tremor—magnitude-6.1—struck at 5:12pm. Japan's Meteorological Agency recorded at least 75 additional quakes in the prefecture, which could remain a concern for about a week.
Rescue Operations Underway
A major rescue operation was underway at the Aeon Mall shopping center, where "many people" were trapped after the complex's second floor collapsed. The shopping center had about 200 shops and businesses inside and had only recently reopened after it was badly damaged in the magnitude-7.3 Kumamoto earthquake in April 2016. An Aeon spokesperson said customers and employees were evacuated right after the initial quake and that the exact cause of the ensuing explosion was unclear.
Kazuya Tsurunaga told TBS he heard the explosion while cleaning up dishes broken by the earthquake inside a pub about 300 meters from the Aeon mall. "It was a huge impact," he said. "A large cloud of smoke billowed up, and because the wind happened to be blowing and the wind direction was towards the shop, the area around us was in a state like volcanic ash was falling."
Multiple people were also unaccounted for after a chimney collapsed at a Nippon Paper Industries factory, NHK reported. Police were seeking the whereabouts of nine people and a train was derailed during the earthquake.
Government Emergency Response
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said human casualties, building collapses, road damage and fires had been confirmed so far. She said local fire stations were responding and urged people to stay away from the coast. She also said an Emergency Assembly Team meeting was called in the Countermeasures Room to assess the quake and that an investigation team was dispatched from the government cabinet office.
Takaichi released a statement on X urging local government ministries and emergency response agencies to immediately assess damage and prioritize rescue of residents. The Japanese government issued emergency earthquake warnings for Kumamoto, Nagasaki, Kagoshima, Fukuoka, Saga, Oita and Miyazaki prefectures, all on Japan's southern Kyushu island.
Infrastructure Impact
The tremor caused power outages for at least 48,000 households in Kumamoto prefecture and fires broke out in several locations, broadcaster NHK reported. Train operator JR Kyushu suspended services, including its high-speed Shinkansen trains, following the quake. Kumamoto airport shut its runway as airlines diverted and cancelled flights, with the airport planning to resume normal operations on Wednesday.
Seismology authorities from Geoscience Australia and the United States Geological Survey reported the initial quake struck at a depth of 10 kilometers below the sea's surface. A tsunami warning for a wave measuring 1 meter was issued after the earthquake, the JMA said, and the warning was lifted about two hours later.
Kyushu Electric Power said there were no reports of irregularities at its Sendai and Genkai nuclear power stations after the earthquake. Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority said no abnormalities were found at three nearby nuclear power plants. The UN nuclear watchdog said Japan's nuclear regulation authority had informed it that there was no damage or safety issues at the Sendai nuclear power plant after the earthquake, and said the IAEA would continue to monitor the situation.
Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries, with a tremor occurring at least every five minutes. Located along the Ring of Fire, Japan accounts for about 20 percent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude-6 or more. Kumamoto was hit with a deadly quake in 2016 that left more than 50 people dead, 1,800 injured and tens of thousands of homes damaged or destroyed.
Why This Matters:
The collapse of the Aeon Mall—a facility that had only recently reopened after being damaged in the 2016 earthquake—raises urgent questions about building safety standards and the adequacy of reconstruction efforts in earthquake-prone regions. With dozens of workers trapped and presumed casualties mounting, the disaster highlights the vulnerability of working people who staff commercial centers and industrial facilities during seismic events. The 48,000 households without power and the disruption to transportation infrastructure underscore how natural disasters disproportionately affect communities that depend on public services and collective infrastructure. As Japan's Meteorological Agency warns of ongoing seismic activity for up to a week, the government's capacity to coordinate rescue operations and provide emergency support will determine how many lives can be saved and how quickly affected communities can recover.