Many feared dead inside collapsed shopping mall after 7.1 Japan quake

Dozens of people were feared trapped in a shopping mall in Japan on Tuesday after a major earthquake toppled buildings, sparked fires and reportedly killed at least one person and injured more than 100. 

Private broadcaster TBS reported that a “considerable number” of people were feared dead inside the mall in the town of Kashima after the fire brigade said that the second floor collapsed in the 7.1-magnitude tremor. 

Emergency services earlier said “many people” were trapped inside the building. 

The quake struck around 4.30pm local time, and rescue crews initially confirmed that there were people trapped inside the mall. Photo via AFP 

The Aeon Mall in Kashim. Dozens of people are missing and feared trapped in the shopping mall in Japan after a major earthquake. Photo / AFP 

Public broadcaster NHK cited police sources as saying that between 20 and 30 employees could not be contacted, showing footage of emergency vehicles with flashing red lights outside. 

Police told AFP they could not confirm any fatalities inside the building. Kyodo News reported that four people had been taken to hospital, all of them conscious. 

Multiple people were also believed to be unaccounted for at a factory in Yatsushiro city where the tip of a chimney fell down, NHK reported, citing sources. 

One person was killed when a house collapsed during the quake, Kyodo reported. 

A close-up from aerial footage showing the roof partially collapsed. Photo / AFP 

People wait in a park after evacuating buildings following a strong earthquake in Kumamoto City, Chuo Ward. Photo / Jiji Press, AFP 

NHK aired footage from elsewhere in the southwestern Kumamoto region on Kyushu island showing several blazes, damaged bridges, a derailed cargo train and a number of houses threatening to topple over. 

Chiharu Hara, a 35-year-old recruitment agent who was in Kumamoto, told AFP that she was “terrified” when the quake struck. 

She said: “The office swayed violently side-to-side. I was afraid it would collapse. Everyone panicked.” 

The tremor, at 4.27pm local time, had a magnitude of 7.1, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said, but reached the highest level of seven on Japan’s Shindo scale. 

The US Geological Survey put the magnitude at 6.8. 

A succession of aftershocks followed, including one with a magnitude of 6.1 at 5.08pm. 

Hundreds of earthquakes strike Japan every year but the vast majority cause little damage. 

Many roads were closed and high-speed shinkansen train services were suspended in the region affected by Tuesday’s quake. Kumamoto airport was closed for several hours before reopening in the evening. 

Two hospitals reported taking in at least 50 injured patients each, NHK said. 

NHK quoted one hospital employee as saying: “People are coming in with burns and fractures from being trapped under objects due to the earthquake, and ambulances are constantly bringing in injured people. 

“Inside the hospital, there are water leaks and electrical system failures.” 

The broadcaster also said that around 10 people were hurt at a nursing home for the elderly. 

The Japanese military has mobilised 3600 personnel for disaster relief operations and sent 20 aircraft to assess the damage from the air, the defence minister said. 

Police stand at the entrance to the Aeon Mall Kumamoto, which was damaged after an earthquake, in Kashima on July 28, 2026. Photo / Jiji Press, AFP 

The JMA initially issued a tsunami alert but withdrew it at around 6.10pm. 

Unverified footage shared on social media showed parts of a wall at the centuries-old Kumamoto Castle collapsing. 

No immediate problems were recorded at nuclear power plants, the Nuclear Regulation Authority said. 

About 45,000 households and facilities had no power in the Kumamoto region, according to local utility Kyushu Electric Power. 

The firm said three nuclear reactors operating in the region at the time were functioning normally. 

Kumamoto was hit by two devastating earthquakes in 2016 – one of magnitude 6.5, followed two days later by one of magnitude 7.3 – which killed 273 people and injured more than 2800. 

Japan is one of the world’s most seismically active countries, sitting on top of four major tectonic plates along the western edge of the Pacific “Ring of Fire”. 

The archipelago, home to around 125 million people, typically experiences hundreds of jolts every year and accounts for about 18% of the world’s earthquakes. 

The vast majority are mild, although the damage they cause varies according to their location and the depth below the Earth’s surface at which they strike. 

Japan is haunted by the memory of a massive 9.0-magnitude undersea quake in 2011, which triggered a tsunami that killed or left missing around 18,500 people and wrecked the Fukushima nuclear plant. 

- AFP