Arabic version: زلزال في اليابان يحاصر أشخاصاً داخل مركز تجاري في كوماموتو
According to The Guardian, a 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck Japan’s Kumamoto prefecture on the southern island of Kyushu late on Tuesday afternoon, damaging roads, bridges and buildings, cutting power to thousands of homes and leaving at least 50 people injured.
An explosion at Aeon Mall Kumamoto shortly after the quake trapped “many people”, fire services said. TBS reported that police believed “quite a few” people were presumed dead, while NHK said about 20 to 30 workers were unaccounted for. Later reports said four people had been rescued and were not in life-threatening condition, while 10 others remained missing.
The cause of the blast was unclear. A senior government official said there had been reports of a gas leak, though it had not been verified as the cause of the explosion. The main gas valve was shut off, and police, fire departments and the Self-Defense Forces were carrying out rescue operations. Footage showed part of the mall, described as the prefecture’s largest and home to roughly 200 stores, torn away with debris across the neighbouring car park.
Prime minister Sanae Takaichi said authorities were assessing the damage. She said officials had received reports of injuries, fires, power outages, damage to roads and bridges, and collapsed buildings, urging people to move to safe locations. About 300,000 people were instructed to go to evacuation centres, while more than 40,000 households in Kumamoto prefecture were without power as of 1:30am local time.
One person was reported killed when a house collapsed in south-west Japan. Hospitals reported dozens of injuries, including 10 serious cases at one facility. A chimney collapse at a Nippon Paper Industries plant left two people in cardiopulmonary arrest and nine others needing rescue, NHK reported. The Japan Meteorological Agency warned of risks from further strong earthquakes and landslides for about a week; more than 60 aftershocks of magnitude 1 to 4 had been recorded. A tsunami warning was lifted within two hours.
