Hope dwindles for rescue in southwestern Japan quake as death toll
climbs to 25
[July 30, 2026]
By MARI YAMAGUCHI
KUMAMOTO, Japan (AP) — Rural communities in southwestern Japan were
struggling to get their lives back to normal Thursday, two days after a
powerful earthquake set off an explosion at a mall, toppled a factory
chimney and flattened homes, killing at least 25 people.
Time was running out to find survivors, as rescuers continued to work in
the Kumamoto area on Japan ’s southern main island of Kyushu, where the
magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit Tuesday.
The number of those missing was unclear. Of the deaths given in the
latest tally, 25 have been confirmed as related to the disaster, but
there were nine more deaths under investigation as likely to be
connected, the Kumamoto prefectural government said. The quake left at
least 86 people injured, five of them seriously, it said.
Survivors spoke about coming home and desperately pulling family members
out of the wreckage. Some had suffered injuries and were rushed to the
hospital.
Thousands of people spent another night at evacuation centers set up
throughout the area in gymnasiums and other big spaces. Some homes were
still without water or electricity, while others were simply afraid to
go back.
Nearly 19,000 homes were still without electricity and more than 9,000
people were staying in the roughly 400 shelters, where power sources
were being added to provide air conditioning.
Concerns were growing about illness, including from the sweltering heat.
The Ministry of Environment sent out a heatstroke alert for the Kumamoto
area, with temperatures expected to reach as high as 33 C (91 F)
Thursday.
Some evacuees sleep in cars
In the town of Hikawa, one of the hardest-hit areas in Kumamoto, many
residents are without water or electricity, or both, and some are
staying inside their vehicles in parks or at the town hall parking lot.
At the front entrance of the town hall, officials delivered bottled
water and packaged instant rice, while the Ground Self-Defense Force
service members came with a trolley to provide fresh water.
Yoshiaki Nakashima, a 66-year-old resident who came with two bottles and
his beloved pet dog to get water, said he is staying in a car because of
his reluctance to stay at one of the three evacuation centers in the
area. He also said he doesn’t want to sleep at home because aftershocks
made him feel uneasy.
“It’s difficult to turn over while sleeping in a car,” he said, but that
living at a shelter is even more difficult.
Akiko Inazaki, another resident in her 30s, is living in a tent set up
in the yard of her home, which has been without water and electricity
since the quake. Inazaki, who also came to get water, said she will use
it little by little.
“Fresh water is so valuable,” she said. Inazaki said she drank so little
that she almost had a heatstroke.
Risks of heatstroke are a major concern among officials.
Yutaka Kobayashi, a doctor dispatched from central Japan's Aichi
prefecture, said he was touring evacuation centers Thursday to assess
the condition of evacuees, especially elderly people and those with
injuries as they cope with a harsh environment.
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A warped railway track and fallen utility poles between Ogawa and
Arisa stations on the JR Kagoshima Line, following an earthquake in
Hikawa, Kumamoto Prefecture, Thursday, July 30, 2026. (Atsuhiro
Maeda/Kyodo News via AP)
“We have to make sure elderly people are not developing heatstrokes
or dehydration,” he said in Hikawa.
While the town parking lot was nearly packed the first night, some
residents have moved to three public schools where air-conditioning
is running, Hikawa officials said.
A town official, Yuzuru Tamura, said they are starting to run out of
emergency food supply, such as canned bread and instant rice.
Emergency personnel search for missing people
The most serious damage was at the Aeon Mall shopping center in the
town of Kashima, which was bustling with thousands of people when
the quake struck in the late afternoon.
The company said some 3,000 customers were evacuated to a parking
lot before the explosion happened in another part of the mall, where
some people were still working. The mall’s second floor collapsed,
trapping people.
As of early Thursday, six people were confirmed to have died at the
mall site among the 11 people pulled out of the wreckage, according
to Kumamoto authorities.
In the Yatsushiro area, where a chimney collapsed at a Nippon Paper
Industries factory, 10 people were rescued, but eight others died,
and one remained missing, according to the Kumamoto prefectural
government disaster team.
Footage provided by the Japanese government and military showed
rescue workers drilling through the collapsed parts of the building
in an attempt to get to anyone who may still be trapped inside.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told reporters the central government
will take a lead role in coordinating the various rescue efforts.
Restoring electricity, gas and water to stricken areas, while
providing a supply of fresh water is key, she said.
“The needs on the ground are constantly changing. To put to rest the
people's feelings of uncertainty, we will do all that needs to be
done,” she said.
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Associated Press writer Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo contributed to this
report.
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