Japan races to rescue survivors after 7.1-magnitude quake kills 13

Rescuers worked through the night on Wednesday to find survivors after a powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck southern Japan, killing at least 13 people, damaging roads, cutting power to tens of thousands of homes and triggering a suspected gas explosion at a shopping mall.

Eight people were rescued alive from the rubble of a partially collapsed Aeon shopping mall near Kumamoto, where an explosion about an hour after the quake killed two women in their 20s. Around 20 to 30 mall workers remained unaccounted for, according to public broadcaster NHK.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said emergency crews were in a race against time to save those trapped.

“Even now, there are people waiting to be rescued, and this is a race against time. We will marshal all available resources to save as many people as possible,” she said.

Authorities are investigating whether a gas leak caused the blast at the mall after rescuers reported smelling gas inside the building. More than 4,500 military personnel, along with firefighters and police, have been deployed across the disaster zone.

Elsewhere, seven people were reported missing after a chimney collapsed at a Nippon Paper Industries factory, while four others suffered serious injuries. Hospitals treated dozens of quake victims, with some facilities forced to suspend admissions due to power outages and overcrowding.

The earthquake struck about 20 km south of Kumamoto City on the island of Kyushu. Around 260,000 residents were told to evacuate as officials warned of strong aftershocks, landslides and heatstroke risks, with more than 36,000 homes still without electricity.

The quake also disrupted transport, injuring passengers aboard high-speed trains and halting rail services. Major manufacturers, including Sony, Honda and Tokyo Electron, suspended operations, while chipmaker TSMC temporarily evacuated workers before gradually resuming production.

Japan, located on the seismically active Pacific “Ring of Fire”, frequently experiences powerful earthquakes. Kumamoto was also devastated by a major earthquake in 2016 that killed 275 people and severely damaged historic landmarks, including Kumamoto Castle.