A magnitude 7.1 earthquake in southern Japan has killed at least 34 people and left thousands without power or water, with rescue crews racing a brutal heat wave to reach survivors still trapped in rubble. The quake struck Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu late Tuesday afternoon, ripping through a crowded shopping mall, toppling […] The post Japan earthquake death toll reaches 34 as rescue hopes fade in Kumamoto appeared first on American Almanac .
A magnitude 7.1 earthquake in southern Japan has killed at least 34 people and left thousands without power or water, with rescue crews racing a brutal heat wave to reach survivors still trapped in rubble. The quake struck Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu late Tuesday afternoon, ripping through a crowded shopping mall, toppling a factory chimney, and flattening homes across several towns. By Thursday, the death toll had nearly doubled from the previous day's count, and officials acknowledged they still did not know how many people remained missing. Kumamoto's prefectural government reported 86 people injured, five of them seriously, while more than 9,000 residents sheltered in roughly 400 emergency sites across the region.…Open
Emergency crews outside an Aeon Mall in Kashima, Kumamoto Prefecture, on Tuesday after the second floor of the building collapsed in the wake of a major earthquake. | Defense Ministry / via JIJI Published July 29, 2026 [...]
A powerful earthquake struck Japan's southern Kyushu island on Tuesday afternoon, collapsing the second floor of a shopping mall and trapping an unknown number of people inside, with police telling Japanese media there were "a lot of deaths" at the site. The magnitude 7.1 quake hit the Kumamoto region at 4:27 p.m. local time, according […] The post Magnitude 7.1 earthquake collapses shopping mall in southern Japan, leaves dozens trapped or missing appeared first on American Almanac .
A powerful earthquake struck Japan's southern Kyushu island on Tuesday afternoon, collapsing the second floor of a shopping mall and trapping an unknown number of people inside, with police telling Japanese media there were "a lot of deaths" at the site. The magnitude 7.1 quake hit the Kumamoto region at 4:27 p.m. local time, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency, sending violent shaking across the southern end of the country's main island chain. The U.S. Geological Survey recorded the event at a lower magnitude of 6.8, a discrepancy that remains unresolved between the two agencies. By either measure, the quake registered at the highest possible level, 7, on Japan's Shindo intensity scale, a reading that signals catastrophic ground…Open