A powerful earthquake struck Japan’s Kyushu island on Tuesday, 28 July, before an apparent explosion caused part of a major shopping mall to collapse.
The incident happened at Aeon Mall Kumamoto in Kashima town, close to the earthquake’s epicentre.
As of about 10:40pm Japan time (9:40pm Singapore time) on Tuesday, rescue operations were still under way. Around 20 to 30 mall workers could not be contacted, while the exact number of people trapped or killed remained unclear.
The Earthquake Struck at 4:27pm
The earthquake struck Kumamoto Prefecture at 4:27pm local time.
The Japan Meteorological Agency recorded a preliminary magnitude of 7.1 and a depth of around 10km. The quake reached shindo 7, the highest level on Japan’s seismic intensity scale, in parts of Kumamoto.
Unlike magnitude, which measures the energy released by an earthquake, the shindo scale measures how strongly the ground shakes at a particular location.
The United States Geological Survey initially assessed the earthquake at magnitude 7.1 before revising its estimate to 6.8.
An Explosion Happened More Than an Hour Later
Aeon said customers and employees began evacuating immediately after the earthquake.
However, more than an hour later, an apparent explosion struck the mall. Police and firefighters received reports of a loud explosion-like sound and smoke rising from the building.
The local fire department said part of the mall’s second floor collapsed, leaving an unknown number of people trapped inside. Aeon said the cause of the explosion had not been determined.
Claims circulating online that the explosion was caused by a damaged gas pipe have not been confirmed by Aeon, the police or fire authorities.
One Side of the Mall Was Torn Open
Aerial footage showed extensive damage to one side of the mall.
Parts of its exterior walls had been blown or torn away, exposing steel beams and the building’s interior. Large pieces of debris were scattered across the mall’s outdoor car park.
Emergency vehicles, including ambulances and fire engines, gathered outside as rescue workers entered the damaged building.
A man working at a pub about 300m away told Japanese broadcaster TBS that the explosion produced a large cloud of smoke and dust. He said the wind carried the dust towards the surrounding area, making it appear as though volcanic ash was falling.
Four People Were Taken to Hospital
At 10:06pm Japan time, TBS reported that four people had been taken from the mall to a nearby hospital.
Earlier reports said multiple people were trapped, while NHK reported that around 20 to 30 mall workers could not be reached.
The mall’s total workforce is much larger. Aeon’s published facility information from 2024 listed approximately 2,700 employees, including around 360 working at the main Aeon store. This does not mean all of them were working when the earthquake struck.
Reports About the Death Toll Remain Conflicting
Japanese news outlets issued conflicting reports about casualties at the mall during the first few hours of the rescue operation.
The Straits Times, citing Fuji TV, reported that multiple deaths had been confirmed. TBS reported that police and Kumamoto prefectural sources believed many people had died.
However, Kumamoto police subsequently told AFP that they could not confirm whether there had been any deaths at the mall.
Therefore, as of about 10:40pm Japan time on 28 July, the safest verified position was that several people were missing or trapped, four had been taken to hospital, and authorities had not released a consolidated official death toll for the mall.
The Japan Self-Defense Forces Are Helping With the Rescue
Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force personnel were deployed to help rescue those trapped inside Aeon Mall Kumamoto.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said 3,600 Self-Defense Forces personnel would be sent to the affected region as authorities dealt with collapsed buildings, fires, damaged roads and power outages.
Rescuers also faced the danger of further tremors. The Japan Meteorological Agency warned people in heavily shaken areas to remain alert for strong aftershocks, particularly over the following two to three days.
Aeon Mall Kumamoto Is One of the Prefecture’s Largest Malls
Aeon Mall Kumamoto is located in Kashima town, around 20km south of Kumamoto city.
The two-storey reinforced-concrete complex opened in October 2005 and was expanded in July 2018.
According to Aeon, it has around 200 speciality shops, approximately 120,000 sq m of total floor space and parking for about 5,000 vehicles. Its tenants include shops, restaurants, a food court, a cinema and the main Aeon retail store.
The mall had also been affected by the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes and was temporarily closed following that disaster. Aeon later expanded and renovated the complex.
Several Important Questions Are Still Unanswered
Authorities have not established what caused the explosion or whether it was directly triggered by earthquake damage.
It is also unclear how many workers or customers remained inside when the blast occurred, whether everyone reported missing was actually inside the building, and which part of the mall the explosion began in.
Structural investigators will also need to determine whether the second-floor collapse was caused by the explosion alone, damage from the earthquake, or a combination of both.
Until authorities complete the rescue operation and account for those missing, casualty figures from the mall are likely to change.
