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Rescuers search for the missing after Japan earthquake as death toll rises to 13
A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Kumamoto Prefecture on Japan's southern island of Kyushu on 29 July 2026, killing at least 13 people and leaving others missing or trapped under rubble. Soldiers and emergency workers are racing to reach survivors at a collapsed shopping mall and a paper factory, with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi warning it remained "a race against time" to find those still waiting to be rescued.
The quake hit hardest in the towns of Kashima and Yatsushiro, where the second floor of an Aeon Mall collapsed following a suspected gas leak explosion, and seven people were feared trapped at a Nippon Paper Industries factory, where two survivors and two bodies have so far been recovered. Around 36,900 homes lost electricity and 9,500 lost gas, communications were disrupted in places, and more than 9,000 residents were evacuated to over 500 shelters. Bullet train services and some flights were suspended, and stone walls were damaged at Kumamoto Castle, which was still being repaired after a 2016 earthquake that killed at least 50 people a decade earlier.
In short
- Magnitude 7.1 quake hits Kumamoto, Japan; death toll reaches 13
- Rescuers race to save people trapped at a mall and factory
- Tens of thousands without power or gas; 9,000+ evacuated to shelters
Explained simply
Japan's Kyushu island was struck by a magnitude 7.1 earthquake on 29 July 2026, centred on Kumamoto Prefecture. The tremor killed at least 13 people and caused significant damage in the towns of Kashima and Yatsushiro.
The earthquake collapsed the second floor of an Aeon shopping mall and severely damaged a Nippon Paper Industries factory. Around 36,900 homes lost electricity and 9,500 lost gas, whilst more than 9,000 residents were evacuated to emergency shelters, and major transport links including bullet train services were suspended.
Kumamoto has experienced major earthquakes before. In 2016, the region was hit by a quake that killed more than 50 people, and many areas are still undergoing recovery and reconstruction. Kumamoto Castle, a historically significant site damaged in that earlier earthquake, was still being repaired when struck again.
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