The death toll from the powerful earthquake that struck Japan’s southern Kyushu island has risen to 13, as emergency responders intensify rescue operations to reach people still trapped beneath collapsed structures.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Wednesday described the rescue effort as a “race against time”, saying authorities were deploying every available resource to locate survivors following the 6.8-magnitude earthquake that rocked Kumamoto Prefecture on Tuesday.
“There are people who are still waiting to be rescued, and it’s a race against time,” Takaichi said. “We will go all out to find and rescue as many people as we can.”
The earthquake, which registered the maximum level seven on Japan’s shindo seismic intensity scale, caused extensive damage across parts of Kyushu, leaving hundreds injured, destroying infrastructure and forcing thousands of residents into emergency shelters.
Government spokesman Minoru Kihara said more than 9,000 people had sought refuge in 506 evacuation centres across five prefectures, including Kumamoto and Fukuoka, while seven people sustained serious injuries and dozens more suffered minor wounds.
Rescue teams continued painstaking search operations at several disaster sites, including a paper mill in Yatsushiro, where a towering chimney collapsed. Two workers were pulled from the rubble and rushed to hospital in critical condition, while emergency crews searched for nine others believed to be trapped.
Authorities are also investigating an explosion that occurred shortly after the earthquake at an Aeon shopping mall in Kumamoto Prefecture. Two women were confirmed dead in the incident, while another victim reportedly suffered cardiac arrest. Officials said the complex had earlier reported a gas leak, although the exact cause of the explosion remains under investigation.
Japan’s Self-Defence Forces mobilised about 3,600 personnel alongside 20 aircraft to support rescue and damage assessment operations, while hundreds of emergency workers from neighbouring prefectures were deployed to the disaster zone.
The Japan Meteorological Agency warned residents to remain vigilant, noting that more than 60 aftershocks had already been recorded and cautioning that further strong tremors and landslides could occur over the coming days because of heightened seismic activity in the region.
The disaster also disrupted essential services, with nearly 50,000 households left without electricity and about 140,000 homes experiencing water shortages. Many residents spent the night inside their vehicles or evacuation centres amid fears of additional aftershocks, while soaring temperatures raised concerns over heat-related illnesses.
Transport services suffered widespread disruption, as high-speed rail operations across Kyushu were suspended, Kumamoto Airport temporarily closed its runway and telecommunications services experienced outages caused by damaged transmission infrastructure. Major manufacturers, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), Sony and Fujifilm, also evacuated employees from facilities in the affected area.
Although the earthquake caused significant destruction, the number of collapsed buildings remained relatively limited, reflecting Japan’s stringent earthquake-resistant construction standards that have been strengthened over several decades. Engineers say modern buildings equipped with advanced seismic protection systems helped minimise casualties despite the intensity of the quake.
Japan lies along the Pacific Ring of Fire, one of the world’s most seismically active regions, and experiences thousands of earthquakes every year. The latest disaster also revived memories of the devastating Kumamoto earthquakes of 2016 and the catastrophic 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, which claimed about 18,500 lives and triggered the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
