Japan earthquake injures 50 and traps ‘many people’ inside shopping mall | Asia Pacific
At least 50 people were injured in the 6.8 magnitude earthquake in southern Japan, some of whom were trapped in a partially collapsed shopping mall and are believed to have died.
The earthquake struck Kumamoto prefecture on the southern island of Kyushu on Tuesday afternoon, knocking out power to thousands of homes and damaging roads, bridges and buildings.
Japanese prime minister Sanae Takaichi told reporters that authorities were still assessing the extent of damage in the region, which was devastated by another deadly earthquake a decade ago.
“We were informed that people were injured. There were power outages and fires in some areas, as well as damage to roads and bridges and collapse of buildings,” Takaichi said.
“I ask everyone to take action to protect themselves, including evacuating to safety.”
The disaster management agency said about 300,000 people had been ordered to go to evacuation centres.
According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, areas experiencing the biggest tremors will be at risk of stronger earthquakes and landslides for about a week as the shallow quake triggers active seismic activity in the region. The agency said more than 60 aftershocks ranging in magnitude from 1 to 4 have occurred so far.
A tsunami warning was issued immediately after the earthquake, but it was lifted within two hours.
Public broadcaster NHK said one hospital reported more than 50 injuries. According to local media reports, many people on the high-speed train during the earthquake were injured.
An explosion ripped through the Aeon shopping mall shortly after the earthquake, trapping “a large number of people”, the fire department said. Broadcaster TBS reported that police said “many people” were presumed dead in the incident.
An Aeon spokesman said customers and employees were evacuated after the initial earthquake, and the cause of the subsequent explosion remained unclear.
Kazuya Tsurunaga told TBS that he heard the explosion while cleaning plates broken by the earthquake at a bar about 300 meters away from the Aeon shopping mall.
“It was a huge impact,” he said. “A huge cloud of smoke rose up and because the wind was blowing and the wind direction was towards the shop, the area around us looked like it was raining volcanic ash.”
Images from NHK showed many other buildings burned or partially destroyed and large cracks appearing on major roads, including an elevated highway.
TSMC, Sony and Fujifilm, the world’s largest contract chip manufacturer, evacuated workers from their factories in the region.
The epicenter was about 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of Kumamoto, the largest city on the central island of Kyushu with a population of about 700,000. The US Geological Survey initially stated that the magnitude of the earthquake was 7.1, but later revised this magnitude to 6.8.
Located along the “ring of fire” formed by volcanoes and ocean trenches in the Pacific basin, Japan is one of the world’s most earthquake-prone countries, with a tremor occurring at least every five minutes. The country is responsible for approximately 20% of the world’s earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.
According to official figures, in the great earthquake that occurred in Kumamoto 10 years ago, 275 people died, 2,739 people were injured and thousands of buildings were damaged, including the city’s castle, one of the most important tourist attractions.
It is said that some of the stone walls of the castle were damaged in the last earthquake.
Kyushu Electric Power said 48,000 homes experienced power outages, while railway company JR Kyushu suspended services, including high-speed bullet trains. Kumamoto airport also closed its runway as airlines changed direction and canceled flights.
Telecom operators KDDI and NTT Docomo said mobile phone services were disrupted due to power outages and transmission line failures.
Japan’s nuclear regulatory authority said there were no reports of irregularities at nuclear power plants in the region.
