2 dead, 1 critical and 10 missing in shopping mall after Japan earthquake
Two young women were found dead in a shopping mall badly damaged by a powerful earthquake and subsequent explosion in Japan, local media reported, as crews continued searching for missing people.
Another person was critical in hospital, and 10 others were unaccounted for, public broadcaster NHK reported.
A fire department statement put the overall death toll as a result of the quake at five, but that figure was likely to rise.
The blast, at the Aeon Mall in Kashima, was likely caused by a gas leak, a government source told the Kyodo news agency. Ceilings and walls collapsed, leaving the structure’s steel frame exposed.
The death toll could have been far greater, but many people had evacuated the mall due to the earthquake and prior to the blast, which occurred 30 minutes later, Kyodo said, citing a spokesperson for the mall operator.
Emergency responders searched overnight for people feared trapped in the mall, located just outside Kumamoto city, and at a damaged factory in Yatsushiro city, both on Kyushu island in southwestern Japan.
Dozens of people were initially feared trapped in the mall after the major quake toppled buildings, sparked fires and injured more than 100.
Private broadcaster TBS had reported that a “considerable number” of people were feared dead inside the mall in the town of Kashima after the fire brigade said that the second floor collapsed in the 7.1-magnitude tremor.
Public broadcaster NHK cited police sources as saying that between 20 and 30 employees could not be contacted, showing footage of emergency vehicles with flashing red lights outside.
At least nine people were unaccounted for at the factory where the tip of a chimney fell down, NHK reported, citing sources.
One person was killed when a house collapsed during the quake, Kyodo reported.
NHK aired footage from elsewhere in the southwestern Kumamoto region on Kyushu island showing several blazes, damaged bridges, a derailed cargo train and a number of houses threatening to topple over.
Chiharu Hara, a 35-year-old recruitment agent who was in Kumamoto, told AFP that she was “terrified” when the quake struck.
She said: “The office swayed violently side-to-side. I was afraid it would collapse. Everyone panicked.”
The tremor, at 4.27pm local time, had a magnitude of 7.1, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said, but reached the highest level of seven on Japan’s Shindo scale.
The US Geological Survey put the magnitude at 6.8.
A succession of aftershocks followed, including one with a magnitude of 6.1 at 5.08pm.
Hundreds of earthquakes strike Japan every year but the vast majority cause little damage.
Many roads were closed and high-speed shinkansen train services were suspended in the region affected by Tuesday’s quake. Kumamoto airport was closed for several hours before reopening in the evening.
Two hospitals reported taking in at least 50 injured patients each, NHK said.
NHK quoted one hospital employee as saying: “People are coming in with burns and fractures from being trapped under objects due to the earthquake, and ambulances are constantly bringing in injured people.
“Inside the hospital, there are water leaks and electrical system failures.”
The broadcaster also said that around 10 people were hurt at a nursing home for the elderly.
The Japanese military has mobilised 3600 personnel for disaster relief operations and sent 20 aircraft to assess the damage from the air, the defence minister said.
The JMA initially issued a tsunami alert but withdrew it at around 6.10pm.
Unverified footage shared on social media showed parts of a wall at the centuries-old Kumamoto Castle collapsing.
No immediate problems were recorded at nuclear power plants, the Nuclear Regulation Authority said.
About 45,000 households and facilities had no power in the Kumamoto region, according to local utility Kyushu Electric Power.
The firm said three nuclear reactors operating in the region at the time were functioning normally.
Kumamoto was hit by two devastating earthquakes in 2016 – one of magnitude 6.5, followed two days later by one of magnitude 7.3 – which killed 273 people and injured more than 2800.
Japan is one of the world’s most seismically active countries, sitting on top of four major tectonic plates along the western edge of the Pacific “Ring of Fire”.
The archipelago, home to around 125 million people, typically experiences hundreds of jolts every year and accounts for about 18% of the world’s earthquakes.
The vast majority are mild, although the damage they cause varies according to their location and the depth below the Earth’s surface at which they strike.
Japan is haunted by the memory of a massive 9.0-magnitude undersea quake in 2011, which triggered a tsunami that killed or left missing around 18,500 people and wrecked the Fukushima nuclear plant.
- AFP