Powerful 7.1 Earthquake Hits Southern Japan, Collapses Mall

A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Japan's southern island of Kyushu on Tuesday, collapsing part of a shopping mall in Kumamoto Prefecture and trapping an unknown number of people. A tsunami advisory was issued and lifted within two hours.

Mall Collapse Leaves Dozens Missing or Injured in Kumamoto

The earthquake struck Tuesday afternoon in Kumamoto Prefecture on Kyushu, Japan's southernmost main island, at a shallow depth of about 6 miles. It registered a rare shindo 7 on Japan's seismic intensity scale in the town of Hikawa and the city of Uki, the first reading of that severity since the Noto Peninsula earthquake in January 2024.

The second floor of an AEON Mall shopping center in Kashima Town collapsed, trapping an unknown number of people inside. Around 20 to 30 mall employees were reported missing, while several others were pulled from the rubble and taken to hospitals. A hospital in Yatsushiro city took in about 40 injured people, and roughly 50 more were treated in Kumamoto city.

The Japan Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami advisory for the Ariake and Yatsushiro Seas along the coasts of Kumamoto, Nagasaki, Fukuoka and Saga prefectures, warning of waves up to about 3 feet. The advisory was lifted roughly two hours later.