Powerful earthquake hits southern Japan, damages mall and traps people

Rescuers moved into a badly damaged Aeon Mall in Kashima Town, Kumamoto prefecture, after a powerful earthquake shook southern Japan and left at least 50 people injured. One person was reported dead after falling from a ladder, and people were reported trapped inside the shopping center after part of the building collapsed.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 7.1 and struck Kumamoto prefecture on Kyushu at a shallow depth of about 10 kilometers. Japan’s seismic intensity scale rated it at level 7, the highest reading on the system, a mark reserved for violent shaking that can topple furniture, crack roads and overwhelm older structures.

Authorities issued a tsunami warning for a possible 1-meter wave in coastal waters around Kyushu, including the Ariake Sea and Yatsushiro Sea, before lifting it later. The quake also cut electricity to thousands of homes, with reports ranging from about 40,000 to nearly 50,000 customers without power, and forced rail operators to suspend the Kyushu Shinkansen. In Fukuoka, passengers crowded Hakata JR station as services were disrupted.

Damage extended beyond the mall. Fire and Disaster Management Agency officials and local broadcasters cited fires, road damage and building collapses in Kumamoto prefecture, and police and fire officials said an explosion may have occurred at the mall. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said injuries, collapsed buildings and other damage had been reported as crews continued checking the hardest-hit neighborhoods.

Japan’s warning system moved quickly enough to trigger a tsunami advisory and a broad transport response, but the quake still exposed how much strain a shallow level 7 shock can place on a dense urban corridor. The scene in Kashima Town, along with the power failures and rail shutdowns across Kyushu, showed how fast a single quake can move from an alert on a screen to a rescue operation on the ground.