Dozens feared dead after earthquake hits southern Japan

Several people were dead and others were missing in Japan after a 6.8 magnitude earthquake rocked the island nation’s southern region on Tuesday. Multiple large business sites experienced significant damage, including a shopping mall and a commercial paper factory, where a chimney collapse occurred, according to Japanese broadcasting outlet NHK. Two workers at Nippon Paper Industries’ plant in Yatsushiro suffered heart attacks, and another nine were missing, NHK added.

The earthquake also triggered an explosion inside the Aeon Mall Kumamoto shopping center, which caused the mall’s second floor to collapse, the outlet reported. Emergency responders rescued four people from the mall, and about 10 people remain missing. Kumamoto Prefectural Police reported that about 200 mall employees and customers evacuated after the earthquake but before the explosion, the report added.

What other casualties and damage occurred? Aerial footage showed other regional damages, including a partial bridge collapse, a train derailment, and several collapsed buildings. Officials were still assessing the total casualties and property damage, but search and rescue operations remained the government’s highest priority, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in a statement Tuesday. She also issued a tsunami warning for coastal areas, but the warning was later lifted. The Japan Times reported that nearly 50,000 households had lost electricity in Kumamoto prefecture.

U.S. forces in Japan acknowledged the earthquake on Tuesday and reported no damage to U.S. facilities in the region.