Japan earthquake: Aerial footage reveals destruction after 6.8-magnitude tremor
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Multiple deaths are being reported after a shopping mall collapsed during today’s 6.8-magnitude earthquake in southern Japan’s Kumamoto Prefecture.
The second floor at the Aeon Mall shopping center in Kashima Town collapsed, trapping an unknown number of people as a result of the explosion.
Rescue operations were being carried out, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said.
Mall operator Aeon said customers were being evacuated and it was still assessing the situation.
The earthquake caused powerful shaking and a tsunami warning was issued for Kyushu’s south-western coastlines, though it was later lifted.
The U.S. Geological Survey initially said the earthquake had a magnitude of 7.1, but revised it later to 6.8.
Prime minister Sanae Takaichi said people had been injured and that officials were evaluating reports of collapsed buildings, fires, damaged roads and bridges, and power outages. She urged residents to evacuate to safe locations and remain alert.
Public broadcaster NHK showed burning and collapsed buildings, large cracks in roads, including an elevated highway, and a derailed freight train.
Mobile phone services were also disrupted in some areas and around 40,000 homes lost electricity.
Shopping mall destroyed in quake had just reopened for ‘fresh start’
The Aeon shopping mall, where dozens are currently thought to be trapped, had only just reopened last month as a new and improved centre.
It was forced to close for several months in Kumamoto’s deadly 2016 earthquake after suffering severe damage.
Following further reconstruction, it opened on 13 June as an improved shopping and entertainment complex to commemorate its recovery from the deadly tremor a decade ago.
The mall was again destroyed in Tuesday’s 6.8 earthquake.
Its reopening was meant to be a fresh start for Aeon Kumamoto, which said last month: “As we mark both the 21st year since opening and the 10th anniversary of the region’s recovery (from the 2016 earthquake), we are undertaking a major renewal of the shopping centre.
“Through this ‘re-start’ initiative, we will embark on a new stage of growth and strive to become a shopping centre that brings enjoyment to customers throughout the region.”
Harriette Boucher28 July 2026 18:15
Dashcam footage shows moment of explosion at shopping mall
Harriette Boucher28 July 2026 17:35
Watch: Aerial footage reveals destruction after 6.8-magnitude tremor
Japan earthquake: Aerial footage reveals destruction after 6.8-magnitude tremor
Harriette Boucher28 July 2026 17:12
Japanese PM likens quake to 2016 disaster
Japan’s prime minister has said said today’s earthquake in Kumamoto was a repeat of the disaster that shook the town in 2016.
“Today, the ‘2016 Kumamoto Earthquake’ has occurred, and human casualties, building collapses, road damage, fires, and other damages have been confirmed so far,” Sanae Takaichi wrote on X.
She said her government would work “tirelessly” overnight to assess the full scale of the damage and carry out emergency response efforts.
本日16時27分頃に発生した「令和８年熊本地震」により、これまでに人的被害や、建物倒壊、道路の損壊や火災などの被害が確認されています。
被災された全ての方々に、心からお見舞いを申し上げます。…
— 高市早苗 (@takaichi_sanae) July 28, 2026
Harriette Boucher28 July 2026 16:57
Earthquake causes chimney to collapse at paper mill
(Reuters)
Harriette Boucher28 July 2026 16:32
A history of Japan’s largest quakes
Japan was rocked by a powerful 6.8 earthquake today, which is thought to have killed several people.
Residents in Kumamoto said the shake reminded them of the 2016 disaster that left 278 people dead across the prefecture and surrounding areas.
Around 20 per cent of the world’s earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater take place in Japan and up to 2,000 quakes are felt by people each year.
These are some of the largest earthquakes that have struck Japan in the last 15 years:
- On March 16, 2022, a magnitude-7.4 earthquake jolted the coast off Fukushima again, leaving three dead, more than 200 injured and reviving memories of the quake and tsunami that crippled the Pacific coast region just over a decade earlier.
- On February 13, 2021, a 7.3-magnitude earthquake hit off the coast of Fukushima in eastern Japan, injuring dozens of people and triggering widespread power outages in Greater Tokyo.
- On September 6, 2018, a 6.7-magnitude earthquake paralysed Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido, killing more than 40 people, triggering landslides and knocking out power to its 5.3 million residents.
- On June 18, 2018, a magnitude-6.1 earthquake in Osaka, Japan’s second-biggest metropolis, killed four people, injured hundreds more and halted factory lines in an industrial area.
- On April 16, 2016, a 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck Kumamoto, the scene of Tuesday’s temblor, killing more than 270 people, including some caught in landslides and heavy rain in the aftermath.
- On March 11, 2011, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami struck northeast Japan, killing nearly 20,000 people and causing a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, leading to the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.
Harriette Boucher28 July 2026 16:11
Mapped: Series of tremors rattler southwestern Japan hit
Earthquake map Japan (US Geological Survey)Japan earthquake map (US Geological Survey)
Harriette Boucher28 July 2026 15:52
Around 300,000 told to evacuate amid aftershocks
Some 300,000 people have been told to go to evacuation centres today as aftershocks continued on Japan’s southwestern island of Kyushu.
Hundreds of soldiers were deployed to help as rescue operations continue.
Japan’s prime minister Sanae Takaichi said : “I ask everyone to take action to protect themselves, including evacuating to a safe location.”
Mall operator Aeon said customers and employees were evacuated right after the initial quake, while TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, Sony and Fujifilm evacuated workers from their plants following the quake.
Harriette Boucher28 July 2026 15:36
Pictures show damage following Japan’s 6.8 earthquake
(Reuters)(Reuters)(Reuters)
Maryam Zakir-Hussain28 July 2026 15:04
Around 20 to 30 mall workers unaccounted for, local media says
Around 20 to 30 workers at the prefecture’s largest shopping mall were unaccounted for after it was rocked by an explosion in the aftermath of the quake, broadcaster NHK said.
Fire services earlier said multiple people were trapped inside, while police said “quite a few” were presumed dead in the incident, broadcaster TBS reported.
One side of the mall, which houses around 200 stores, was torn away, exposing steel beams and strewing debris across a vast parking lot, footage showed.
Several ambulances and fire engines were parked outside, as rescue teams searched for survivors.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain28 July 2026 14:26
