Major Earthquake Strikes Kumamoto in Southern Japan, Causing Multiple Casualties

What happened

A powerful earthquake struck Kumamoto prefecture on Japan’s southwestern island of Kyushu at about 4:27-4:30pm local time on Tuesday, July 28, 2026. Japan’s Meteorological Agency (JMA) initially measured the quake at magnitude 7.1, while the US Geological Survey (USGS) later revised its estimate down to 6.8; different outlets cite one figure or the other, and some, like the BBC, note both. The epicentre was near the coastal city of Uto, roughly 20km (12 miles) south of Kumamoto City, or about 48km southwest of it depending on the source, at a shallow depth of around 6 miles. A tsunami advisory was issued immediately but lifted within about two hours.

The disaster’s most dramatic scene unfolded at the Aeon Mall Kumamoto, the prefecture’s largest shopping centre with roughly 200 stores and about 2,700 employees, which had only reopened on June 13 after a years-long rebuild following the devastating 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes. Staff evacuated roughly 200 shoppers immediately after the quake, but about an hour later a powerful explosion tore through the building, blowing out walls and exposing steel framing after part of the second floor had already collapsed. Witnesses reported smelling gas beforehand, though officials said the cause of the blast remained unclear. Rescue crews initially could not enter parts of the mall because of aftershock risk. By Wednesday, mall president Akio Yoshida confirmed three deaths at the site and three missing employees, with four injured people taken to hospital, one rescued from a restroom and another in cardiopulmonary arrest; he apologized at a press conference. NHK had earlier reported 20 to 30 employees unaccounted for.

Separately, a chimney collapsed at Nippon Paper Industries’ Yatsushiro plant, where, according to NHK and the BBC, two people were found showing no signs of life and nine others were unaccounted for. A house collapse elsewhere killed one person, per Kyodo News. Historic stone walls at 17th-century Kumamoto Castle also tumbled, echoing damage the castle suffered in the 2016 quakes. The Kyushu Expressway split apart, Kumamoto Airport briefly closed, and the Fire and Disaster Management Agency reported at least eight fires. Two hospitals reported more than 50 and roughly 40 injuries respectively, including at least 10 serious cases, with staff describing burns, fractures, water leaks and electrical failures. Passengers on a high-speed train were injured, with some reported missing. Around 300,000 people were told to move to evacuation centres, and the JMA warned of continued risk of strong aftershocks and landslides for about a week; more than 60 aftershocks (magnitude 1 to 4) were recorded soon after, a figure the BBC updated to over 100 by Wednesday. The nearby Sendai Nuclear Power Plant reported no abnormalities. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi confirmed injuries, power outages, fires, road and bridge damage, and building collapses, urging residents to evacuate to safety.

How coverage differs

Death toll figures varied significantly by publication time. The Guardian’s initial reporting cited at least two confirmed dead with more presumed dead in the mall, later updating to at least 13 in its live coverage. Al Jazeera and the BBC both report at least 13 dead, with the BBC providing the most granular breakdown: three dead at the mall, three missing there, two found with no signs of life at the paper factory, and nine more missing at that site. Fox News and France24 focus heavily on the mall’s backstory as a rebuilt symbol of the 2016 recovery, with Fox News adding that the mall drew more than 8 million annual visitors after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. opened a nearby factory in 2024. The Guardian and Sky News emphasize the human toll and evacuation orders more than infrastructure specifics, while the BBC and Al Jazeera give more attention to the paper-mill chimney collapse and Kumamoto Castle damage. All outlets agree on the mall explosion’s mysterious cause, the discrepancy between JMA’s 7.1 and USGS’s revised 6.8 magnitude readings, and the temporary tsunami advisory.

Why it matters

Kyushu, home to roughly 700,000 people in Kumamoto City alone, has a painful history with seismic disaster: the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes killed 278 people across Kumamoto and Oita prefectures. The Aeon Mall’s collapse is particularly resonant because it had just reopened weeks earlier as a rebuilt emblem of that recovery, complete with seismic reinforcements meant to make it more resilient. The unexplained explosion, the ongoing rescue operations at both the mall and the paper plant, and warnings of continued aftershocks and landslide risk mean the full human and economic toll—along with the cause of the blast—remains under investigation as Japan grapples with another major disaster in a historically vulnerable region.

Sources

• The Guardian World
• Al Jazeera
• Al Jazeera (2)
• Fox News World
• The Guardian World (2)
• BBC World
• France24
• France24 (2)
• France24 (3)
• Sky News World

Featured photo: MK Products via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)