TOKYO (Reuters) - A 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit Japan’s southern Kumamoto prefecture on Tuesday, knocking out power to thousands of homes, rupturing roads and leaving some trapped and others presumed dead inside a partially collapsed shopping mall.
Speaking to reporters from her office in Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said authorities ‌were still assessing the full extent of the damage in the area, which was devastated by a deadly quake a decade ago.
Police received reports of an explosion at the Aeon Mall outlet in the Kumamoto region but the force did not provide information on damage or any casualties.
The fire department in Japan’s Kashima town have released a statement confirming a shopping complex’s second floor collapsed, “leaving many people trapped inside”, following an earthquake on Tuesday afternoon.
The Japanese government had earlier issued warnings for the affected areas, including the prefectures of Kumamoto, Nagasaki, Kagoshima, Fukuoka, Saga, Oita and Miyazaki on the island of Kyushu. Authorities urged around 150,000 people to seek refuge in shelters specifically designated for earthquakes.
The quake left at least 48,000 households without electricity on Kyushu, and rail services were suspended, with Shinkansen bullet trains also halted.
Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority said no irregularities had been detected at three nuclear power plants close to the quake.
The strong tremor was also felt in parts of South Korea, including the major south-eastern port city of Busan.
The area has a history of quakes; 10 years ago, a powerful earthquake in Kumamoto claimed 275 lives, injured 2,739 people and left tens of thousands of residents homeless.