Rescuers in southern Japan are working against time to find survivors after a 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck the island of Kyushu on Tuesday, killing at least 13 people and injuring hundreds. The quake, which hit the Kumamoto region, caused widespread damage, collapsing numerous older homes and triggering a gas explosion at a shopping mall.
Survivors pulled from wreckage in Hikawa
In the rural town of Hikawa, near the epicentre, volunteer firefighter Tomohide Nagata described a desperate rescue. “There was a voice coming from the collapsed house, and I could see a hand,” he told the Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun. “One of our senior members crawled in and pulled him out. He was bleeding from the head, but I’m so glad he survived.” Many residents spent Tuesday night in their cars outside Hikawa’s town hall, where staff distributed food and drinks, terrified of ongoing aftershocks.
Prime minister warns of race against time
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Wednesday: “There are people who are still waiting to be rescued, and it’s a race against time. We will go all out to find and rescue as many people as we can.” Iwaoka Shigemi, 79, and his wife Michiyo, 77, who escaped their home and slept in their car, now worry about heatstroke as temperatures are expected to reach 35°C.
Memories of 2016 earthquake haunt survivors
Suemi Nagata, 79, was unable to leave Hikawa by car because her garage was destroyed, but she reached the town hall with her husband and sister. “The lateral shaking was worse than the Kumamoto earthquake 10 years ago, and it was terrifying,” she said. “Just to have survived with my life is something to be grateful for.” In April, Kumamoto commemorated the 10th anniversary of the 2016 earthquake that killed over 275 people, a memory that weighs heavily on residents.
Gas explosion at Kumamoto Aeon mall leaves four missing
At the Kumamoto Aeon mall, a gas explosion triggered by the earthquake severely damaged the building. Employees who had re-entered after evacuating customers were caught in the blast. A 16-year-old girl who escaped moments before told the Asahi Shimbun she “felt completely safe once she was outside,” only to struggle breathing from dust and smoke. A 74-year-old shopper told the Nikkei newspaper he learned an acquaintance was hurt. Up to 30 employees were initially trapped, and four remain missing.
Lucky escapes and heartbreaking failures in Uki City
In Uki City, which experienced shaking at the maximum 7 on the Japanese shindo scale, residents reported narrow escapes. A woman in her 40s protected her children from falling furniture and evacuated to Toyono elementary school, where the ceiling of the local disaster facility had collapsed. In the Asakawa district, volunteer firefighters tried to rescue an elderly man trapped in a flattened house. The 70-year-old district head told the Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun: “The man is a childhood friend of mine. We tried to pull him out, but the aftershocks came one after another, so we had no choice but to give up.” Many Uki residents slept in cars, and the city set up a makeshift response headquarters in a car park.
Man saved by day off in Yatsushiro
In Yatsushiro, a 63-year-old self-employed man’s life was saved because he had a day off. His workplace, a single-storey wooden structure, collapsed. “I wasn’t at work, so I escaped with my life,” he said, having spent the night in a tent in his garden. “Though I have no idea what I’ll do starting tomorrow.”
