![Kumamoto Earthquake 2026: What Happened](https://cdn.slatesource.com/5/e/5/5e5006ee-6b90-4393-a3e9-8b52c4d76e0c.webp) # Kumamoto Earthquake 2026: What Happened - [Made in Slatesource](https://slatesource.com/@steph/kumamoto-earthquake-2026-what-happened) - By [Steph](https://slatesource.com/@steph) - Created on Jul 30, 2026 Confirmed dead 25 (9 more under investigation) Injured at least 86 people Earthquake magnitude MJMA 7.1 (Mww 6.8), depth 10 km Strike time 16:27 JST, 28 July 2026 Homes without power 34,900 at peak Homes without water 15,000 and counting People in evacuation shelters more than 8,800 across 400+ centres ## Why KumamotoKumamoto AgainAgain KumamotoKumamoto PrefecturePrefecture sitssits at the southernsouthern endend of Japan'sJapan's longestlongest faultfault systemsystem, the JapanJapan MedianMedian TectonicTectonic LineLine, where the earthearth bendsbends in twotwo directionsdirections at the Beppu-HaneyamaBeppu-Haneyama FaultFault ZoneZone. Strike-slipStrike-slip faultingfaulting with a strongstrong downwarddownward componentcomponent rupturedruptured about 10 km beneathbeneath the surfacesurface, 5 km easteast of UtoUto CityCity. The JapanJapan MeteorologicalMeteorological AgencyAgency gavegave it a domesticdomestic scalescale of MJMAMJMA 7.1. The USGSUSGS independentlyindependently measuredmeasured MwwMww 6.8. BothBoth figuresfigures describedescribe the samesame eventevent. MaximumMaximum shakingshaking of intensityintensity 7 on the JMAJMA scalescale, the highesthighest levellevel, was recordedrecorded in UkiUki CityCity and HikawaHikawa. TremorsTremors were feltfelt as farfar awayaway as BusanBusan, SouthSouth KoreaKorea, where 291291 reportsreports camecame in. The JMAJMA issuedissued a tsunamitsunami advisoryadvisory for the AriakeAriake and YatsushiroYatsushiro seasseas withinwithin minutesminutes. No damagingdamaging wavewave arrivedarrived, and the advisoryadvisory was liftedlifted. A one-weekone-week aftershockaftershock warningwarning remainsremains in effecteffect. This is the second major earthquake in Kumamoto in a decade. In April 2016, a magnitude 6.5 on April 14 was followed 28 hours later by a magnitude 7.3, killing 273 people. The JMA warned in 2016 that it was the first time in observational history that intensity 7 was recorded twice in a single sequence. The agency has issued an identical caution this week: significant aftershocks remain possible for at least seven days. # Hour by hour: how the disaster unfolded 16:27 JST (28 July). The main shock. The magnitude 7.1 earthquake strikes with its epicentre 5 km east of Uto City, Kumamoto Prefecture. Intensity 7 shaking, the maximum on Japan's scale, hits Uki City and Hikawa instantly. Bullet train services across Kyushu are halted. All flights at Kumamoto Airport are cancelled. Power fails in roughly 46,000 households. 16:30 to 17:00 JST (28 July). Tsunami advisory. The Japan Meteorological Agency issues a tsunami advisory for the Ariake and Yatsushiro seas. Coastal communities are warned of possible waves up to one metre. Evacuation orders go out. No damaging wave arrives. The advisory is lifted within the hour, but fear keeps tens of thousands away from the coast. 17:00 to 18:00 JST (28 July). Aeon Mall Kashima. Roughly 3,000 customers at the Aeon Mall in Kashima Town have been evacuated to the parking lot when a gas explosion tears through another part of the building about an hour after the quake. The mall's second floor collapses. Staff still inside are trapped. Rescue workers report the smell of gas. Authorities believe a gas leak caused the blast. 18:00 to 20:00 JST (28 July). Nippon Paper Industries, Yatsushiro. A chimney at the Nippon Paper factory in Yatsushiro collapses onto workers. Eight people die, one remains missing. Ten workers are rescued from the wreckage. It becomes one of the single deadliest incidents of the disaster. 20:00 JST onwards (28 July). Self-Defense Forces deployed. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi holds a press conference. She says "every second counts" and confirms the Japan Self-Defense Forces have accepted a disaster dispatch request from Kumamoto Prefecture. Hundreds of military personnel, alongside firefighters including a team from Taiwan, begin working through the night. Kumamoto Castle is reported to have sustained partial damage to its stone walls. 29 July (all day). Rubble search. Rescue teams comb the collapsed sections of Aeon Mall and damaged homes in Kashima and Uki. The death toll climbs steadily: 18 confirmed by late 29 July. Six of those are confirmed at the mall site, from the 11 people pulled from the wreckage. Nine people remain unaccounted for at the Nippon Paper factory. Sweltering summer heat, with daily highs near 35 degrees Celsius, raises alarm for any survivors still trapped. 30 July (morning). Hope dwindles. The confirmed death toll reaches 25, with nine further deaths under investigation as likely connected. At least 86 people are injured, five seriously. Rural communities around Uki, Kashima, and Yatsushiro are struggling to resume normal life. More than 8,800 people remain in over 400 evacuation shelters. Nearly 34,900 homes are still without electricity. 15,000 homes remain without running water. A highway bridge has buckled. The JMA one-week aftershock warning stays in force. No comments yet. Be the first. Log in to comment The 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes rebuilt much of central Kumamoto in the decade that followed. Kumamoto Castle, which took catastrophic damage in 2016, had only recently completed a major phase of reconstruction. Authorities are now assessing whether the new restoration work has been set back. Separately, the JMA has flagged that because this week's quake covers a wide seismic area, any aftershock could strike in a location where ground motion exceeds that of the main event. ![](https://cdn.slatesource.com/5/e/5/5e5006ee-6b90-4393-a3e9-8b52c4d76e0c.webp) ## Japan'sJapan's earthquakeearthquake intensityintensity scalescale JapanJapan usesuses its ownown JMAJMA seismicseismic intensityintensity scalescale, separateseparate from magnitudemagnitude. It runsruns from 0 to 7, with 5 and 6 splitsplit into lowerlower and upperupper. IntensityIntensity 7 is the highesthighest rungrung and meansmeans violentviolent shakingshaking capablecapable of topplingtoppling reinforcedreinforced concreteconcrete structuresstructures. This weekweek intensityintensity 7 was recordedrecorded in UkiUki CityCity and HikawaHikawa. IntensityIntensity 6 upperupper and lowerlower were measuredmeasured acrossacross a widewide beltbelt includingincluding YatsushiroYatsushiro, UtoUto, MisatoMisato, MashikiMashiki, NishiharaNishihara, KoshiKoshi, and OzuOzu. The scalescale measuresmeasures what the groundground actuallyactually does at eacheach locationlocation, not the energyenergy releasedreleased at the sourcesource, so twotwo placesplaces at the samesame distancedistance from the epicentreepicentre can registerregister very differentdifferent intensitiesintensities dependingdepending on their soilsoil. [NPR: Death toll climbs to 25, hope dwindles for rescue in southwestern Japan](https://www.npr.org/2026/07/30/nx-s1-5913050/japan-earthquake-updates?utm_source=slatesource) [Wikipedia: 2026 Kumamoto earthquake (full reference and updates)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Kumamoto_earthquake?utm_source=slatesource) [Japan Times: Rescuers race to find survivors after mall explosion and chimney collapse](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/07/29/japan/kumamoto-quake-explosion-mall/?utm_source=slatesource)