Overview
- A shallow magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Kumamoto Prefecture on Tuesday, producing severe shaking that damaged buildings, collapsed a mall floor and toppled a factory smokestack.
- Rescuers ended a five-day operation at the Aeon Mall in Kashima after accounting for those reported missing, recovering five survivors and seven bodies while investigators probe a suspected gas leak that caused a post-quake explosion.
- At a Nippon Paper Industries site in Yatsushiro a collapsed chimney trapped workers, with officials reporting two rescued and nine confirmed dead from the factory incident.
- The prefectural government confirmed the overall death toll has risen to 38 and said about 103 people were injured as wide search, inspection and recovery work continues across the region.
- Thousands remain displaced in crowded shelters or sleeping in cars and public spaces, and officials are focusing on delivering water, fuel and cooling measures to prevent further heat-related illness during extreme temperatures.