The death toll from the powerful magnitude 7.1 earthquake that struck Kumamoto Prefecture earlier this week has reached 30, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi confirmed on Thursday, July 30, 2026.
The figure includes suspected disaster-related fatalities.
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According to the Kumamoto prefectural government, 18 deaths have been confirmed.
Eight of those occurred at a Nippon Paper Industries Co. plant in Yatsushiro, while six victims died at an Aeon shopping mall in Kashima following an explosion after the Tuesday temblor.
Three additional deaths were recorded in Yatsushiro and one in the town of Kosa.
Searchers have located the last missing individual at the paper plant, where multiple smokestacks sustained severe damage, though the person's condition remains unknown.
Discrepancies in Casualty Figures
Municipal authorities report further casualties outside the main prefectural tally.
The city government of Uki confirmed two local deaths that had not yet been formally submitted to the prefecture.
The Vietnam News Agency reported that a Vietnamese trainee died after being crushed by a crane at a factory in Kosa.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara explained that differences between national and local casualty figures stem from conflicting reporting channels.
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The central government relies on police and fire service reports, while Kumamoto Prefecture tallies statistics directly from municipal submissions.
Infrastructure remains severely affected across southwestern Japan. As of Thursday morning, more than 10,000 residents were staying in evacuation shelters.
Approximately 23,000 households faced power outages, and nearly 75,000 lacked water service, according to prefectural reports.
Transportation networks are also disrupted as railway operators conduct damage inspections.
JR Kyushu reported that bullet train services on the Kyushu Shinkansen Line between Kumamoto and Kagoshima-chuo stations remain suspended.
Planned service resumptions between Chikugo-Funagoya Station in Fukuoka Prefecture and Kumamoto Station were canceled for Thursday.
The earthquake struck Tuesday at 4:27 p. m.
, recording a maximum intensity of 7 on the Japanese seismic scale in Uki and Hikawa.
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The Japan Meteorological Agency noted that shaking at this intensity prevents people from standing or moving without crawling.
