Moment Japanese surgeons cling to patient in operating theatre as 7.1 magnitude earthquake hits

CCTV footage has captured the dramatic moment surgeons in a hospital in Kumamoto, Japan, shielded an anaesthetised patient as a 7.1 magnitude earthquake shook their operating theatre. The medical team can be seen clinging to the operating table and steadying equipment as the room lurches violently, with one medic knocked to the floor. Japanese media reported the operation was briefly halted before being safely resumed and completed, and the hospital had returned to normal service by 5 August.

The earthquake struck Japan's southern island of Kyushu on the afternoon of 28 July, killing around 38 people and injuring more than 120 across Kumamoto Prefecture. It triggered an explosion at a shopping centre in Kashima, in which seven people died, and caused widespread destruction including collapsed homes, cracked roads and a derailed freight train. More than 79,000 people lost running water and around 3,500 homes remained without power for days as temperatures reached 35C, while roughly 9,000 residents took refuge in emergency shelters; the town of Hikawa was among the hardest hit, with over 800 of its 4,500 homes damaged or destroyed.