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Several confirmed dead in Japan mall after massive quake: Asahi TV
A major earthquake rocked Japan's southern Kumamoto prefecture on Tuesday, knocking out power to thousands of homes, rupturing roads and injuring at least 50 people
- PUBLISHED: Tue 28 Jul 2026, 3:55 PM UPDATED: Tue 28 Jul 2026, 6:24 PM
Several deaths have been confirmed at a shopping mall damaged by a major earthquake Tuesday in southwestern Japan, police have said according to TV Asahi.
Emergency services earlier said "many people" were trapped inside the building after a floor collapsed.
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A major earthquake rocked Japan's southern Kumamoto prefecture on Tuesday, knocking out power to thousands of homes, rupturing roads and injuring at least 50 people.
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Speaking to reporters at her office in Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said the full extent of casualties and damage from the 7.1-magnitude quake was still being assessed.
Several people on a high-speed train at the time of the quake were also injured, the Nikkei newspaper said. Multiple buildings were damaged, including an Aeon shopping mall that NHK said had suffered an explosion, while footage from the broadcaster also showed other buildings on fire or partially collapsed.
Large cracks appeared on major roads, including an elevated highway, and a goods train derailed, according to NHK, while rail services were halted and flights grounded.
TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, evacuated workers from its plant in the area as a precaution, a spokesperson for the firm said. Sony and Fujifilm also evacuated staff from their plants in the area, the Nikkei newspaper reported.
A Sony spokesperson earlier said it was checking the situation. More than 150,000 people have been instructed to go to evacuation centres, the disaster management agency said.
Residents in the areas that felt the biggest tremors must beware of further strong quakes for about a week as well as the risk of landslides, an official for the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said.
Kyushu Electric Power said about 40,000 homes had lost power as a result of the latest quake, while railway company JR Kyushu said that it had suspended services, including its high-speed bullet trains. Kumamoto Airport also shut its runway as airlines diverted and cancelled flights.
Telecoms operators KDDI and Docomo said there was disruption to their mobile phone services due to power shortages and transmission-line failures.