Japan earthquake leaves 19 missing as rescue efforts continue

International

COLLAPSED walls, damaged roads and a stricken shopping centre are among the scenes emerging from Japan’s Kyushu island after a powerful earthquake left 19 people missing.

The earthquake struck Kumamoto prefecture at 16:27 local time (07:27 GMT) on Tuesday, damaging infrastructure and prompting authorities to order hundreds of thousands of residents to evacuate to shelters.

People were reported missing at an Aeon shopping centre and a paper factory, while power was cut to tens of thousands of households. Part of a historic castle wall also collapsed, along with a footbridge.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) initially measured the earthquake at magnitude 7.1, while the US Geological Survey later revised it to 6.8. Magnitude estimates are often updated as seismologists analyse additional data.

Kumamoto, the city at the centre of much of the reported damage, is located on Kyushu, Japan’s third-largest main island and its second most populous.

The region has a history of major earthquakes. In 2016, powerful quakes that struck Kumamoto and neighbouring Oita prefectures killed 278 people, according to Japan’s public broadcaster NHK.

Much of the rescue effort has focused on an Aeon Mall in Kumamoto prefecture, where 10 people remain unaccounted for, according to an official at the prefecture’s Disaster Management Division.

Four people have been rescued from the shopping centre and their lives are “not in danger”, an official told the BBC.

A witness said they saw an explosion and smoke at the mall following the earthquake. The witness also reported seeing the second floor collapse, while some shoppers were taken to hospital.

Japan’s fire and disaster management agency later confirmed that the second floor of a “commercial facility” had collapsed and that many people were trapped inside.

Elsewhere in Kumamoto prefecture, the earthquake also caused damage at Nippon Paper’s Yatsushiro Plant.

Police said a chimney at the facility had collapsed. An aerial image obtained by Reuters appeared to show the chimney broken and collapsed.

A Kumamoto disaster management official also told the BBC that two people at the plant had been found in a state of “cardiac arrest”.

Nine others remain missing from the site, the official said.

Beyond the search operations, the earthquake left its mark on several landmarks and key infrastructure across the region.

The historic Kumamoto castle sustained fresh damage, with sections of its 17th-century walls collapsing. The castle was also hit during the 2016 earthquake, when parts of the roughly 400-year-old structure, including turrets and curved walls, fell.

A footbridge in the Kumamoto region also collapsed, although it remains unclear whether anyone was injured or exactly when the collapse occurred. Traffic appeared to be moving on a separate bridge running parallel to the damaged structure.

The earthquake also disrupted essential services. More than 40,000 households were without power, according to an update on Kyushu Electric’s website, while roads in several areas were damaged as authorities continued to assess the extent of the destruction.

After the main quake, the JMA recorded more than 60 aftershocks ranging in magnitude from 1 to 4.

A tsunami warning was issued immediately after the earthquake but was lifted within two hours.

Authorities continue search and rescue operations as emergency crews assess the full extent of the damage across the affected areas.(MyTVCebu)