Japan earthquake: Rescuers search Kumamoto mall wreckage as death toll hits 18

Kumamoto,UPDATED: Jul 29, 2026 18:40 IST

Rescue teams and soldiers searched a badly damaged shopping mall and collapsed homes in southwestern Japan on Wednesday, a day after a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck the Kumamoto area on the southern main island of Kyushu. At least 18 people, including one foreign national, have died and at least 62 have been injured, six of them seriously, according to the prefectural government, which said the toll has been steadily rising.

Some of the worst damage was reported at the Aeon Mall shopping centre in Kashima city, where thousands of people were present when the quake hit. The company said about 3,000 customers were evacuated to a parking area before a gas explosion took place in another part of the mall, where some people were still working. Nearly 34,900 homes remained without electricity, around 15,000 were without running water, and more than 8,800 people had moved to over 400 shelters.

The mall's second floor collapsed, trapping people, and witnesses said the explosion shook the area as much as the earthquake. Aeon President Akio Yoshida said four deaths had been confirmed at the site and three people were still missing. "We take it seriously that an explosion happened and precious lives were lost," Yoshida said at a news conference in Kumamoto, where he bowed deeply with two other executives. Television footage showed part of the ceiling caved in, with metal pieces and other debris scattered as rescue workers in helmets and masks searched the area.

Fumika Ono, 19, said she was shopping with her older sister when the ground shook so violently that she lost her balance and ducked, as children screamed and goods fell across the floor. She was among the shoppers who escaped safely. Nearby resident Kiyoshi Matsunaga, 74, who was in a supermarket a few blocks away, said he thought he was going to die. He said he froze while pushing his trolley towards the cash register as items flew from the shelves. "I was frightened," he said.

In the Nuyamazu district, two gates at a 16th-century Buddhist temple collapsed even though they had been repaired five years ago. Yuki Kiyozumi, the temple's deputy chief priest, said the shaking was so violent that she had to crawl on the floor after returning home from a meeting and before feeding her cat. "I don't even know if or how we can rebuild them again," she said while clearing damaged ornaments and furniture.

Elsewhere, five people were killed when a chimney collapsed at a Nippon Paper Industries factory in nearby Yatsushino, while seven others were pulled from the rubble, the prefectural government disaster team said. Four more people were believed to be trapped there. In the first reported foreign death, a Vietnamese technical intern was killed after a crane fell on him at the factory where he worked. The Vietnamese government said he had arrived in Japan in January. Seven other Vietnamese technical interns at the factory escaped safely, while a Vietnamese woman married to one of the workers was injured when a wall collapsed and was being treated in hospital.

Aerial police footage showed homes flattened in residential areas, with some collapsing into a nearby river. Japan's Self-Defence Forces joined rescue teams in the operation, and firefighters from Taiwan were also helping. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said: "There are people who are still waiting to be rescued, and it's a race against time. We will go all out to find and rescue as many people as we can." She said the government was preparing to send food and other supplies to the worst-hit areas and urged residents to protect themselves in the intense heat. Bullet train services remained suspended, and although Aso Kumamoto Airport reopened on Wednesday, some airlines cancelled flights as a precaution. Kumamoto was also hit by a deadly earthquake in 2016 that killed at least 50 people.

With PTI Inputs

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