In the town of Kashima, the Aeon mall still stands as a ruin — a place where metal beams jut from shattered walls and workers in masks sift through debris, searching for signs of life. Eighteen people were pulled from the rubble, but three of them died after being brought out. That mall was packed when the 6.8-magnitude quake struck, and now it remains the site where rescuers and time are in a head-on collision.
A 5.8 aftershock the night before had already weakened the ground, and with temperatures set to climb to 35C by Thursday, rescue teams face not just structural collapse but also the slow, silent threat of heat. Nearly 5,000 Self-Defence Forces personnel have been deployed to Kumamoto, but their work is hampered by the very forces that made the disaster possible.
A region already shaken by past trauma
Kumamoto knows what it means to wait in silence for a tremor. Two years ago, in 2016, the region was struck by two devastating quakes, killing 273 people and leaving behind a deep, unhealed scar. This year’s quake came as a reminder — sharp, sudden — that even in a country conditioned to tremors, nothing is ever quite the same after.
Industries halt as plants assess quake impact
Kyushu, Japan’s industrial heartland, saw Toyota and other manufacturers halt production at plants in the region. The decision, according to analysts, was driven not by damaged facilities but by concerns over supply chains and worker safety. Kyushu accounts for about 40 percent of the region’s industrial output, much of it in auto and semiconductor manufacturing. The ripple effect is being watched closely.
Locals recall the shaking as the worst of their lives
Kanzo Matsumoto, 73, who operates a luxury hot spring inn in Yatsushiro, said he had never felt anything like it. “It was the strongest quake I ever experienced,” he told the Agence France-Presse. The ground shifted enough that some surfaces were displaced by nearly a meter, according to Japan’s Geospatial Information Authority.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said the region had seen buildings collapse, roads crumble, and fires break out. As teams in the field search through dust and debris, the government reports that over 8,800 people are now staying in 400 emergency shelters, many of which are being fitted with air conditioning as temperatures rise.
The Vietnamese government confirmed the first reported death of a foreign national — a technical intern who was killed when a crane fell at his factory. Elsewhere, the numbers of the missing are still being tallied, and the heat is becoming a second, more insidious challenge.
The death toll from the earthquake has risen to 34, with one additional death still being investigated as possibly linked to the magnitude 7.1 quake, meaning the toll could rise to 35. More than 80 people have been injured, including five seriously. A hospital in the Uki district said it was unable to operate after losing electricity in the earthquake, becoming like a field hospital, while another hospital in the city suspended new admissions after treating 86 injured people, including three in serious condition.
A gas leak is suspected to have caused an explosion that further devastated the Aeon mall in Kashima, around an hour after the quake. Mall operator Aeon said four employees remained unaccounted for after checking on around 2,700 staff members.
Government spokesperson Minoru Kihara said 11 people had been pulled from the wreckage of the Aeon mall by Thursday night, seven of them dead. "To make sure that no one else is inside, we are finalizing our checks with the assistance of professionally trained dogs," he said. The mall was evacuated before the explosion, which struck more than an hour after the magnitude 7.1 quake. Local media reported that all employees had now been accounted for.
Some 800 households remain without electricity as of Friday, while more than 79,000 homes in Kumamoto prefecture still have no water supply, according to regional authorities. More than 9,000 people are staying in evacuation shelters amid dangerously high temperatures. Authorities said additional power sources and hundreds of air-conditioning units are being installed. Fuel has also become scarce after power cuts disabled filling stations. Fuel deliveries from other regions have also been hampered by earthquake damage. Many Kumamoto residents have been sleeping in their cars. Due to fuel shortages, however, many are struggling to keep air conditioning running in the sweltering heat.