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Japan earthquake: What we know so far
Japan earthquake: What we know so far
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- Published28 July 2026
Japan is reeling from the latest major earthquake to hit the country, which has left at least 13 people dead, according to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
Rescuers are racing against time to find survivors trapped in the rubble, Takaichi said.
Nineteen people were earlier reported missing at an Aeon shopping mall and a paper factory after the 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit Kyushu island, authorities said.
The quake has also caused power cuts, damaged roads, collapsed a castle wall and destroyed a footbridge while local officials say 9,872 people have been evacuated. Information is still coming out of Japan but here is what we know so far.
When and where in Japan was the earthquake?
The quake hit Kumamoto prefecture on Kyushu island at 16:27 local time (07:27 GMT) on Tuesday, with hundreds of thousands of people being told to move to evacuation shelters.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) reported the earthquake had a magnitude of 7.1, which the US Geological Survey later measured as a 6.8. Quake magnitude figures are often updated as seismologists obtain and analyse new data.
Kumamoto - where the collapsed Aeon Mall is located - is a city on the Kyushu island of Japan.
The southern island of Kyushu is the third-largest of the four main islands in Japan, and the second most populous.
The area is no stranger to earthquakes. A total of 278 people were killed in 2016 by powerful quakes in Kumamoto and neighbouring Oita prefecture, according to Japan's public broadcaster NHK.
A map of the epicentre of the earthquake in Kumamoto prefecture on Kyushu island
What happened at the shopping centre?
Three people have died at the Aeon Mall following the quake, an official from Kumamoto prefecture's Disaster Management Division has said.
At least eight people have been rescued from from the shopping centre. It is not clear how many are trapped.
A witness reported seeing an explosion and smoke at the shopping mall after the quake.
The mall's operator told AFP that an explosion occurred after staff and customers had evacuated.
The witness saw the second floor of the building collapse, with some shoppers taken to hospital.
Kumamoto - where the collapsed Aeon Mall is located - is a city on the Kyushu island of Japan
Where else has been affected?
Elsewhere in Kumamoto prefecture, a chimney reportedly collapsed at Nippon Paper's Yatsushiro Plant, according to police, who are being cited by NHK.
An aerial photograph of the site obtained by Reuters news agency appears to show a broken and collapsed chimney.
The disaster management official told the BBC that two people at the plant had been found in a state of "cardiac arrest" and nine people are still missing.
People are thought to be missing after a chimney collapsed at the Nippon Paper Industries Yatsushiro Plant
Tremors also caused historic walls at the 17th-century Kumamoto castle to tumble.
It is not the first time the castle has succumbed to an earthquake. When a 7.3 magnitude quake hit the region in 2016, parts of the 400-year-old castle were also damaged as turrets and curved walls collapsed.
Tremors damaged walls at the 17th-century Kumamoto castle
A footbridge also collapsed in the Kumamoto region.
It is unclear if anyone was injured, or when the collapse took place. Traffic appears to be travelling on the bridge that runs parallel to it.
Some 36,700 households are without electricity, according to local officials. There has also been damage to roads.
Trains have been suspended on Kyushu island, Japan Railways announced.
This comes after public broadcaster NHK said seven people were injured by the quake while on the Kyushu Shinkansen. It also reported that people had to spend the night on these bullet trains after broken tracks left them stranded.
There have been more than 60 aftershocks ranging in magnitude from 1 to 4, Japan's Meteorological Agency said.
A tsunami warning was issued immediately after the quake, but was lifted within two hours.