Death toll rises to 18 following 7.1 magnitude earthquake in southwestern Japan – National
Soldiers and emergency workers entered a badly damaged shopping mall and collapsed houses to search for survivors trapped Wednesday after a powerful earthquake killed at least 18 people, including a foreigner, in southwestern Japan.
The 7.1 magnitude earthquake that struck the Kumamoto area on the southern main island of Kyushu a day ago also left at least 62 people injured, six of them seriously, the regional government said. The numbers have been steadily increasing, with fears that they may continue to rise.
Another major damage was the Aeon Mall in the city of Kashima, which was crowded with thousands of people when the earthquake struck. The company said 3,000 customers were evacuated to the car park before the gas explosion in another part of the mall, where some people were still working.
Fumika Ono was shopping at the mall with her older sister when the floor shook so much that she lost her footing and fell. The children started screaming and the clothes were scattered on the floor.
The suspect, 19, was among the crowd of shoppers who managed to escape safely.
The sweltering weather increased concerns for the survivors as rescuers turned up the heat. It was unclear how many people may still be missing.
In Nuyamazu Prefecture, two temple gates of a 16th-century Buddhist temple collapsed. They were just renovated five years ago.
Yuki Kiyozumi, the deputy high priest at the temple, remembered how he had to crawl on the ground because the tremors were so strong. She had just returned home from a meeting and was about to feed her cat.
“I don’t even know how we can rebuild ourselves,” he said while cleaning the damaged decorations and furniture.
Another major damage was the Aeon Mall in the city of Kashima, which was crowded with thousands of people when the earthquake struck. The company said 3,000 customers were evacuated to the car park before the gas explosion in another part of the mall, where some people were still working.
The second floor of the mall collapsed, trapping people. Eyewitnesses said the explosion shook the area like an earthquake.
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Three people are still missing, and four died at the mall, according to Aeon President Akio Yoshida.
“We take it very seriously that the explosion happened and precious lives were lost,” Yoshida said at a news conference in Kumamoto, where he bowed with two other officials.
Japanese media images of the mall showed part of the ceiling collapsed, and pieces of metal and other debris strewn everywhere as masked rescuers searched the area.
Kiyoshi Matsunaga, 74, who lives near the mall and is in a shopping area a few blocks away, said he thought he was going to die.
He stood there shaking as he pushed his cart towards the cash register. Things are scattered on the shelves. He couldn’t move, he remembered.
“I was scared,” he said.
In nearby Yatsushino, a chimney collapse at a Nippon Paper Industries factory killed five people and seven others were rescued from the rubble, according to the Kumamoto government disaster team.
Four people are believed to be trapped there, the statement said.
In the first reported foreigner death, a Vietnamese technician was killed after a crane fell on him at a factory where he was working, according to the Vietnamese government. He had arrived in Japan in January. Seven other Vietnamese teachers working at the plant got out safely
Separately, a Vietnamese woman married to one of the workers was injured when the wall collapsed and was treated at the hospital.
About 34,900 homes are without electricity and about 15,000 homes are without water, Kumamoto officials said. More than 8,800 people left their homes to live in more than 400 shelters, where power sources were installed to provide cool air.
Aerial police images showed that some houses in the residential areas were completely flattened, including several that had fallen into the nearby river.
Japan’s Self Defense Forces joined rescue workers in search and rescue operations. Hundreds of professionals were assisting in the effort, including firefighters from Taiwan.
“There are people still waiting to be rescued, and it’s a race against time,” said Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. “We will go all out to find and rescue as many people as possible.”
Takaichi said the federal government is preparing to deliver food and other necessities to the hard-hit areas. He also expressed his condolences to the dead and sympathized with their relatives, and urged those affected by the earthquake to take care of themselves under the hot weather.
Bullet train services remain suspended. Although operations at Aso Kumamoto Airport resumed on Wednesday, some airlines canceled flights as a precaution.
Kumamoto was hit by an earthquake that killed at least 50 people in 2016. Japan is one of the most earthquake prone countries in the world.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
