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Recap: Japan earthquake: Rescuers in ‘race against time’ as death tolls rises to 13

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The search for survivors is ongoing at the damaged Aeon Mall and Nippon Paper Industries factory in Kumamoto.

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Edited by Clay Lim, Walter Sim, Marisa Yeo

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Published: July 29, 2026

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\r\n","liveBlogId","2334","isLiveBlog",true,"isMultidayLiveblog",false,"multidayLiveBlogMapping",[],"uniqueName","live-kumamoto-quake","infiniteScroll",{"_46":47},"additionalStories",[],"advertisements",[],"metaData",{"_20":21,"_52":21,"_53":21,"_54":43,"_24":55,"_56":55,"_57":-7,"_58":59,"_60":61},"ogTitle","twitterTitle","slug","The search for survivors is ongoing at the damaged Aeon Mall and Nippon Paper Industries factory in Kumamoto. Read more at straitstimes.com.","ogDescription","jsonLd","keywords","Japan, earthquake, natural disaster,","robots","index, follow, max-image-preview:large, max-snippet:-1, max-video-preview:-1","gaData",{"_64":65,"_66":23,"_67":23,"_20":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74},"level2","23","chapter1","chapter2","Live:_7.1_magnitude_quake_hits,_Japan,_five_reported_dead","title_ga","Live: 7.1 magnitude quake hits, Japan, five reported dead","pagination","1","contenttype","live blog","liveBlogSchemaProps",{"_22":77,"_78":21,"_24":55,"_79":80,"_81":82,"_83":80,"_84":85,"_86":87,"_88":89,"_94":95,"_188":189},"https://www.straitstimes.com/live-kumamoto-quake","headline","datePublished","2026-07-29T08:00:00.000Z","dateModified","2026-07-29T22:27:46.000Z","coverageStartTime","coverageEndTime","2026-07-29T12:59:00+08:00","publisherName","The Straits Times","publisherLogo",{"_22":90,"_91":92,"_93":10},"https://www.straitstimes.com/publisher-logo.png","width",600,"height","updates",[96,101,105,109,113,117,121,125,129,133,137,141,145,149,153,157,161,165,169,173,177,180,184],{"_78":97,"_79":98,"_99":100},"What we know so far","2026-07-29T22:23:39+08:00","articleBody","Rescuers frantically searched for survivors on Wednesday, a day after a powerful earthquake shook southern Japan, killing at least 13 people. The 7.1-magnitude quake in the Kumamoto region damaged roads and knocked out power to thousands of homes across the region.“Extensive damage has been confirmed, including casualties, collapsed buildings, fires and damage to roads,” Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said, as she described a “race against time” to help those affected.As the authorities combed through debris and assessed the damage, Takaichi vowed to make sure that necessary supplies are delivered to quake-hit areas.Rescue teams on Wednesday battled through the tangled wreckage of the partially collapsed Aeon Mall near Kumamoto, which was torn apart by an explosion about an hour after the earthquake.Aeon president Akio Yoshida had said there was a “very high” possibility that the explosion was caused by gas.Power outages and scorching heat are compounding the struggles of residents, forcing some to spend the night without air-conditioning and others to seek shelter in their own cars.Japan’s weather agency expects high temperatures in the prefecture, which could reach 40 deg C, with officials urging caution against heatstroke.Meanwhile, auto and chip manufacturers, including Toyota, Honda and Renesas, have halted production at plants on Kyushu island. The island is a key base for Japan’s automotive and semiconductor industries, accounting for roughly two-fifths of regional industrial output.PHOTO: EPA",{"_78":102,"_79":103,"_99":104},"Taiwan readies rescue teams for possible deployment to Kumamoto","2026-07-29T21:04:26+08:00","Taiwan is ready to dispatch search and rescue teams within four hours if requested by Japan, after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck Kumamoto the previous day, Kyodo News reported Interior Minister Liu Shyh-fang as saying on Wednesday.Taiwan’s National Fire Agency has completed preparations, with fully equipped search-and-rescue teams on standby in Tainan, Hsinchu, Chiayi and Kaohsiung, which has a sister-city relationship with Kumamoto, Liu told reporters in Taipei.“If Japan requests assistance, we will initiate the deployment,” Liu said, noting that major earthquakes such as the one in Kumamoto are often followed by aftershocks and, in some cases, even larger quakes.Hsinchu Mayor Kao Hung-an said in a Facebook post on Tuesday night that the city’s search and rescue team had completed a full equipment inspection and was ready for deployment with 31 personnel, including 29 firefighters, a doctor and a nurse, as well as rescue equipment.Taiwan previously dispatched a search-and-rescue team to Japan following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, conducting search-and-rescue operations in the disaster-hit Tohoku region. ",{"_78":106,"_79":107,"_99":108},"Possibility ‘very high’ that explosion was caused by gas: Aeon president","2026-07-29T19:57:34+08:00","Akio Yoshida, the president of mall operator Aeon, said there was a “very high” possibility that the explosion, which ripped through the mall on Tuesday after the 7.1-magnitude tremor, was caused by gas.However, he added that thorough investigations were needed to understand what exactly went wrong, Reuters reported.“We had not fully anticipated that an explosion of this kind could occur,” Yoshida said at a news conference. “In the course of operating Aeon Mall over the years, we have never had an accident like this.” At the same news conference, Aeon Mall president Keiji Ohno gave details of recent inspections of the mall’s gas equipment, reported NHK.He said: “A routine self-inspection was conducted on March 12, and a statutory inspection was conducted on June 10. The statutory inspection in June included an inspection of the high-pressure valve area.” ",{"_78":110,"_79":111,"_99":112},"Earthquake-hit area in Kumamoto moved 84cm, analysis finds","2026-07-29T18:51:15+08:00","An analysis of crustal deformation following the 7.1-magnitude earthquake in Kumamoto prefecture has revealed large-scale movements, including a displacement of about 84cm in a north-easterly direction in Yatsushiro city.The analysis was conducted by the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan using the Global Navigation Satellite System, reported The Japan News.A displacement of similar scale occurred during an earthquake that struck the same prefecture in 2016.Following major earthquakes, the institute analyses ground motion at about 1,300 electronic benchmark points nationwide.In Tuesday’s earthquake, the greatest crustal deformation occurred in the Sencho district of Yatsushiro, which is close to where the epicentre was. The ground there shifted about 84cm to the north-east and subsided by about 30cm. In the Jonan district of Kumamoto city, the ground shifted about 40cm to the north and rose by about 10cm. In the Izumi district of Yatsushiro, the ground shifted about 17cm to the south, with only slight vertical movement.The institute’s analysis also revealed that the fault, about 29km long and 6km wide, shifted by about 2m.",{"_78":114,"_79":115,"_99":116},"Kyushu Shinkansen partly resumes service","2026-07-29T18:00:37+08:00","Kyushu Railway announced on Wednesday that it would resume service on part of the Kyushu Shinkansen route at around 5pm (4pm Singapore time), after a stoppage following the massive earthquake that struck Kumamoto prefecture on Tuesday.According to a report by The Japan News, service will resume between Hakata and Chikugo-Funagoya stations, with fewer trains running than normal. Service between Chikugo-Funagoya and Kagoshima-Chuo stations will be suspended for the entire day.PHOTO: THE JAPAN NEWS/ASIA NEWS NETWORK",{"_78":118,"_79":119,"_99":120},"Inside Japan’s shopping mall disaster","2026-07-29T17:30:09+08:00","Workers in a mall in southern Japan described being thrown to the floor or enveloped in a cloud of dust by a massive 7.1-magnitude quake that rattled the building on Tuesday. They were the lucky ones. An hour later, the real disaster struck.Hundreds of shoppers and store employees, quickly ushered by staff to evacuate, watched on in horror as an explosion ripped through the building.“I thought a bomb had gone off,” Takateru Sonoda, 41, who runs a combined hair salon and cafe near the mall, told news agency Jiji Press.“There were people calling on others to evacuate and sirens were ringing out. Nearby roads were gridlocked, it was a state of panic.”One worker manning one of the mall’s 200 stores told the Yomiuri newspaper that Tuesday’s temblor shook the building for 10 seconds and brought him to his knees.Another 22-year-old employee at the mall’s cinema said the quake threw up a disorientating cloud of dust.Despite the chaos, staff promptly followed protocol to evacuate more than 200 shoppers and workers to a car park where many took shelter in their vehicles in sweltering summer heat. READ MORE HERE",{"_78":122,"_79":123,"_99":124},"In pictures: Rescuers race against time to find missing people following quake","2026-07-29T17:00:07+08:00","More than 4,500 soldiers have been deployed in Kumamoto to help with recovery efforts, media outlets reported on Wednesday, following a massive quake that struck the region the day before.Emergency workers carry out search and rescue operations at a collapsed house in Hikawa Town in Japan’s Kumamoto prefecture.A drone view shows rescue workers at Nippon Paper Industries factory in Yatsushiro City in Japan’s southern Kumamoto prefecture.The collapsed worship hall of Yatsushiro Shrine. Workers undertake repairs at a utility pole near the Aeon Mall Kumamoto, which was damaged by an explosion. Rescue workers enter the damaged Aeon Mall Kumamoto in Kashima.警察では、昨日から令和８年熊本地震に係る救助活動を続けています。熊本県警察のみならず、鹿児島県をはじめ全国から応援に駆けつけた警察の部隊が、倒壊家屋に取り残された方の救助等を進めています。救助を求める方のもとに一刻も早くたどり着くべく、引き続き全力を挙げてまいります。 pic.twitter.com/jpsDkF0h83— 警察庁（災害情報専用） (@NPA_saigaiKOHO) July 29, 2026 PHOTOS: REUTERS, KYODO, AFP, JAPAN NATIONAL POLICE AGENCY",{"_78":126,"_79":127,"_99":128},"Three dead after Aeon Mall explosion, with three still missing ","2026-07-29T16:35:36+08:00","Three people have died following an explosion at Aeon Mall Kumamoto after Tuesday’s 7.1-magnitude earthquake, Aeon president Akio Yoshida said at a nationally televised press conference at 4.30pm (3.30pm Singapore time) on Wednesday.Speaking from Kumamoto city, Yoshida added that there is one person without vital signs, while three others remain missing.Despite initial reports of a strong gas odour inside the complex before the explosion, Yoshida said it remains premature to comment on the exact cause of the blast while official investigations continue.He noted that about 3,000 customers were inside the mall at the time, which was a higher number than typical for a weekday afternoon due to the summer holidays. Following the 4.27pm tremor, all customers were safely evacuated to the ground-floor open-air carpark by 5pm. No customer injuries were reported.Yoshida said he was unable to comment on why certain employees subsequently returned to the building, though standard disaster protocols dictate that staff evacuate after ensuring customer safety.The explosion occurred later at about 5.50pm, he added.Firefighters and self-defence forces personnel are continuing their search inside the building.Separately, Nippon Paper Industries said that 11 people had been trapped inside its paper mill in Yatsushiro city after a facility chimney collapsed and damaged surrounding structures. Of the seven workers pulled out so far, five were confirmed dead and two were injured.An official tally released during a Kumamoto prefecture disaster management meeting shortly after 4pm on Wednesday confirmed 12 deaths across the prefecture, with six people in cardiopulmonary arrest. At least 62 others were injured.",{"_78":130,"_79":131,"_99":132},"Four people remain unaccounted for in Kumamoto mall explosion: Aeon ","2026-07-29T13:56:22+08:00","Four people remain unaccounted for following an explosion at a Kumamoto shopping centre after Tuesday’s earthquake, mall operator Aeon said on Wednesday. In its first statement on the incident, Aeon said that under standard disaster protocols, the immediate priority following an earthquake is to guide customers to safety. Staff working in the mall’s 204 stores and other businesses then evacuated the premises. Following the explosion, which occurred about an hour after the earthquake that struck at 4.27pm local time (3.27pm Singapore time), the company has been working to account for all 2,700 employees who were working at Aeon Mall Kumamoto. Search teams working overnight pulled a total of eight people from the mall. Five were conscious with light injuries, while two women in their 20s were confirmed dead and one was in a state of cardiopulmonary arrest. “We will continue to do our utmost in search and rescue efforts for the four missing individuals, working under the guidance of the government, fire department, police, and other authorities,” Aeon said in the statement. “We offer our deepest condolences to those who lost their lives in the explosion at Aeon Mall Kumamoto, and our sincerest apologies to the bereaved families and everyone affected or injured.”READ MORE HEREPHOTO: KYODO VIA REUTERS",{"_78":134,"_79":135,"_99":136},"Toyota to halt operations at three southern Japan plants until Friday","2026-07-29T13:00:11+08:00","Automaker Toyota said it will suspend operations at three plants in the southern region of Kyushu from the second production shift on Wednesday until Friday due to the impact of Tuesday’s quake.“The situation, including aftershocks and recovery efforts, is changing daily,” Toyota said in a statement on Wednesday.“We will continue to prioritise safety above all else in our responses and decisions.\"",{"_78":138,"_79":139,"_99":140},"Hospitals in Kumamoto overstretched","2026-07-29T12:30:48+08:00","Hospitals in Kumamoto are reportedly treating dozens of patients. One, in Uki city near the epicentre, said a power outage caused by the quake meant it was unable to function.“It’s become like a field hospital,” the head of the administrative department told national broadcaster NHK.Another hospital in the city said it had suspended admissions as it could no longer handle additional emergency cases after accepting 86 injured people, including three with serious injuries.Several passengers aboard high-speed trains at the time of the quake were also injured, said operators, who immediately suspended all services after the jolt.Seven people are still missing after a chimney collapsed at a Nippon Paper Industries factory, while four others are seriously injured, a local government official said. PHOTO: KYODO VIA REUTERS",{"_78":142,"_79":143,"_99":144},"Major earthquakes in Japan over the past 15 years","2026-07-29T12:00:02+08:00","Situated on the “Ring of Fire” arc of volcanoes and oceanic trenches partly encircling the Pacific Basin, Japan accounts for about 20 per cent of the world’s 6-or-greater-magnitude earthquakes. The country experiences up to 2,000 quakes that can be felt by people each year.Here are some of the major quakes that have hit Japan in the last 15 years:March 11, 2011: A 9-magnitude earthquake and tsunami struck north-east 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.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.March 16, 2022: A 7.4-magnitude 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.Jan 1, 2024: A 7.6-magnitude earthquake rocked the remote Noto peninsula on the west coast of central Japan on New Year’s Day. More than 300 people were killed. READ MORE HERE",{"_78":146,"_79":147,"_99":148},"Quake strikes Japan’s semiconductor hub","2026-07-29T16:16:28+08:00","The 7.1-magnitude Kumamoto earthquake on Tuesday struck directly at the heart of Japan’s burgeoning chip industry. Under the national “New Silicon Island Kyushu” vision, Japan aims to build a thriving semiconductor hub on the south-western island, leveraging Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s (TSMC) fabrication hub in the town of Kikuyo in Kumamoto prefecture.TSMC’s entry on the island has driven a dense concentration of semiconductor-related manufacturers both in Kumamoto and across Kyushu.TSMC confirmed that all workers were evacuated unharmed following the quake. The company has reportedly begun gradually resuming operations after confirming no structural damage to its Kikuyo plant, operated by its subsidiary Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing.Sony Semiconductor Solutions, a subsidiary of tech giant Sony Group, suspended production at its image sensor factories in Kikuyo and Koshi city. The company is assessing damage to its buildings and equipment, with no restart date set yet. It also proactively halted operations at its other Kyushu factories, including those in Nagasaki, Oita and Kagoshima prefectures, despite finding no major damage there. Fujifilm, which manufactures display and semiconductor materials in Kikuyo, and TOPPAN, which operates a semiconductor packaging plant in Tamana City, also suspended operations to conduct damage inspections after safely evacuating employees.Renesas Electronics, which produces semiconductors at its Kawashiri and Nishiki plants near the quake’s epicentre, suspended operations after safely evacuating all staff without injury.In a statement on Wednesday, Renesas said falling ceiling panels and wall cracks occurred at its Kawashiri plant, while its Nishiki facility suffered wall cracks and some water leakage.READ MORE HERE ",{"_78":150,"_79":151,"_99":152},"Over 9,000 people in evacuation centres after quake ","2026-07-29T11:20:14+08:00","More than 9,000 people were in evacuation centres early on Wednesday, the day after a major quake hit south-western Japan, the government said.“We have received reports of seven people with serious injuries and 29 with minor injuries. Furthermore, as at 7am today (6am Singapore time), 9,186 people have sought refuge in 506 evacuation centres across five prefectures, including Kumamoto and Fukuoka,” government spokesman Minoru Kihara said.",{"_78":154,"_79":155,"_99":156},"Unruptured fault from 2016 likely behind powerful Japan temblor: Experts","2026-07-29T11:15:28+08:00","Tuesday’s quake is likely to have been caused by a fault left unruptured in twin temblors that struck almost the same region a decade ago, experts said.The focus of the latest quake was not far from the epicentres of similar inland temblors of 6.5 magnitude on April 14, 2016, and 7.3 magnitude two days later.“It is believed that the 2016 earthquake caused significant strain and stress, resulting in movements along part of the Hinagu fault zone,” said Shinji Toda, a professor of seismology at Tohoku University.READ MORE HERE",{"_78":158,"_79":159,"_99":160},"In pictures: Infrastructure damaged following strong quake in Japan’s Kumamoto","2026-07-29T11:00:49+08:00","A view of the heavily damaged Aeon Mall Kumamoto shopping centre after an explosion on Tuesday, following the quake.Police officers and firefighters gathered outside the Aeon Mall Kumamoto shopping centre.A badly damaged truck seen near Aeon Mall Kumamoto shopping centre.Emergency vehicles were seen outside the Aeon Mall Kumamoto shopping centre.An aerial view of a collapsed bridge following a 7.1-magnitude earthquake in Kumamoto prefecture.PHOTOS: EPA, KYODO, AFP",{"_78":162,"_79":163,"_99":164},"Kumamoto Castle damaged in earthquake","2026-07-29T10:45:08+08:00","Tuesday’s quake caused damage to the centuries-old Kumamoto Castle, one of the oldest, grandest and most renowned castles in Japan.Videos show that one of the castle’s stone walls had partially collapsed, with rocks tumbling to the ground.This was not the first time the historic structure was damaged in an earthquake. The castle was previously damaged after a powerful earthquake in 2016, when sections of a stone wall around the castle collapsed into the moat.READ MORE HERE",{"_78":166,"_79":167,"_99":168},"Heavily damaged Aeon mall had just reopened for ‘fresh start’","2026-07-29T10:10:10+08:00","The Aeon Mall Kumamoto shopping centre that was destroyed in Tuesday’s quake had just reopened in June to commemorate its recovery from a deadly tremor a decade earlier.The mall sustained heavy damage in a 7.3-magnitude quake in April 2016, after which it was closed for months and rebuilt over even longer periods.As it went through a 2017 redevelopment and expansion, the mall highlighted its seismically reinforced ceilings and overall improvements to safety and resilience.On Tuesday, mall employees helped evacuate visitors outside the building after the quake struck, an Aeon spokesperson said.About an hour later, a powerful explosion blew the walls off and exposed large parts of the underlying structure.Regional officials said they believed 10 people were unaccounted for in the mall, public broadcaster NHK reported. It earlier cited police as saying between 20 and 30 of the mall’s employees could not be contacted.READ MORE HEREPHOTO: REUTERS",{"_78":170,"_79":171,"_99":172},"13 dead in Japan quake, says PM Takaichi","2026-07-29T09:34:17+08:00","Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Wednesday that the government has confirmed 13 deaths following a 7.1-magnitude earthquake that hit southern Japan’s Kumamoto prefecture the previous day.“Even now, there are people waiting to be rescued, and this is a race against time. We will marshal all available resources on the ground to save and rescue as many people as possible,” Takaichi told reporters at her office in Tokyo.READ MORE HEREPHOTOS: REUTERS",{"_78":174,"_79":175,"_99":176},"Shinkansen bullet train services remain halted","2026-07-29T09:21:28+08:00","The operator of the Kyushu Shinkansen bullet train line said services will remain halted on Wednesday, Kyodo News reported, after a 7.1-magnitude quake hit the region the previous day.Trams will resume operation at reduced speeds in Kumamoto prefecture, the Kumamoto City Transportation Bureau said.However, it warned that services might be suspended in the event of another strong earthquake.Japan’s weather agency urged the public to remain on alert for further quakes.PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: UNSPLASH",{"_78":97,"_79":178,"_99":179},"2026-07-29T07:59:30+08:00","Five people have died following a 7.1-magnitude earthquake that hit southern Japan’s Kumamoto prefecture on Tuesday.About 300,000 people have been instructed to go to evacuation centres, with hundreds of soldiers deployed to help with rescue operations.The quake knocked out power to thousands of homes and ruptured roads across the region, with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi saying the authorities were still assessing the full extent of the damage.National broadcaster NHK reported that around 10 people were unaccounted for after an explosion tore through the Aeon Mall Kumamoto shopping centre following the quake.The prefectural government said early on Wednesday that rescuers working at the scene overnight had taken eight people out of the shopping centre.Two people were confirmed dead.A spokesperson for mall operator Aeon said that the cause of the explosion was unclear.Another person was killed when a house collapsed during the quake, Kyodo News reported.Multiple people were also believed to be unaccounted for at a factory in Yatsushiro city, where the tip of a chimney fell down, according to NHK.Kyushu Electric Power said 48,000 homes had lost power due to the quake, and railway company JR Kyushu said that it had suspended services.Some portions of the stone walls at Kumamoto Castle also collapsed as a result of the quake.PHOTO: REUTERS",{"_78":181,"_79":182,"_99":183},"Watch: Video shows damage inside Aeon Mall in Kumamoto ","2026-07-29T15:28:41+08:00","Japan’s National Police Agency shared a video showing the devastation inside the Aeon Mall in Kumamoto, which was damaged by an explosion following a strong quake that hit the region on Tuesday.The video, taken on Wednesday morning, shows that the upper part of the building has collapsed, with rubble strewn across the floor.",{"_78":185,"_79":186,"_99":187},"Extreme heat poses grave risk for evacuees after Kumamoto quake","2026-07-29T16:00:16+08:00","Survivors of Tuesday’s 7.1-magnitude Kumamoto earthquake face the threat of a severe heatwave, with electricity and water still cut off to thousands of households across the region.Temperatures hit 35.5 deg C in the town of Kosa on Wednesday, and forecasts show the mercury could soar to 40 deg C in Kumamoto prefecture over the weekend. Weather officials note that reaching 40 deg C would mark the highest temperature ever recorded in Kumamoto’s history.Utility companies are racing against time to restore power and water to affected homes, as the Japan Meteorological Agency issued urgent warnings regarding the heightened risk of heatstroke at evacuation centres and during clean-up efforts.Electricity and water are progressively being restored. Water supply remained cut to roughly 56,000 households as at 9.30am on Wednesday, down from 140,000 on Tuesday night, while 34,000 homes were without power as at 11am.","speakable",{"_190":191},"cssSelector",[192,193],".live-blog-header",".live-blog-summary","dependentPaths",[],"actionData","errors"]