Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Tuesday that injuries and collapsed buildings have been reported following the magnitude 7.1 earthquake in southwestern Japan, according to reports. An explosion was reported at the Aeon Mall in Kumamoto, and a landslide occurred on Mount Mayu in Shimabara, Nagasaki Prefecture. Footage showed injured shoppers inside a Costco in Kumamoto.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi confirmed Tuesday afternoon that injuries and collapsed buildings have been reported following the magnitude 7.1 earthquake that struck Kumamoto Prefecture earlier in the day. The premier’s statement, issued around 13:58 Jerusalem, also noted a landslide on Mount Mayu in Shimabara, Nagasaki Prefecture. Footage from the scene shows injured shoppers inside a Costco in Kumamoto.
This development follows a sequence of unverified reports that The Zioneer has been tracking since the morning. At 12:43 Jerusalem, The Zioneer reported that at least 50 people had been hospitalized and that tsunami warnings had been issued for seven prefectures. By 13:23 Jerusalem, police reported an explosion at the Aeon Mall in Kumamoto, though the cause and number of casualties were not yet known. Subsequent reports, also at 13:23, indicated that the explosion had left many trapped inside. The cause of the explosion and the number of individuals trapped remain unconfirmed.
Kumamoto Prefecture, located on Kyushu Island, is a region of significant seismic activity, as The Zioneer reported earlier. The earthquake is the latest in a series of powerful tremors to hit Japan in recent weeks, including a magnitude 7.2 quake off northeastern Japan on June 25 and a magnitude 5.6 tremor in central Japan on June 26.
The extent of the damage and the number of casualties continue to be assessed. The cause of the explosion at the Aeon Mall and the number of people trapped remain unknown. No further details on the condition of the injured have been released.
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