A powerful magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck Kumamoto prefecture on Japan's Kyushu island Tuesday afternoon, July 28, 2026, leaving at least 13 dead and hundreds injured.
The Japan Meteorological Agency reported the shallow tremor reached level 7 on the shindo intensity scale.
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Over 60 aftershocks followed by Wednesday morning, forcing around 300,000 people into evacuation centers.
Search and rescue operations are underway.
Emergency crews sifted through rubble at damaged sites, including a paper mill in Yatsushiro where a collapsed chimney left two workers in cardiac arrest and nine others missing.
An explosion and partial collapse at an Aeon shopping mall in Kumamoto killed two women in their 20s and left another person in cardiac arrest due to gas leaks.
The Japanese military deployed 3,600 personnel and 20 aircraft for disaster relief, joined by first responders from neighboring prefectures.
Local hospitals treated over 350 injured despite power outages, water leaks, and equipment damage.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi stressed the urgency of rescue efforts Wednesday morning.
"There are people who are still waiting to be rescued, and it's a race against time," she said.
"We will go all out to find and rescue as many people as we can."
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Takaichi urged residents to take defensive measures. "We have already been informed that people have been injured.
Power outages and fires have occurred in some areas, and there has also been damage to roads and bridges and the collapse of buildings," she said.
