Around 300,000 residents told to evacuate as government deploys 3,600 soldiers for disaster recovery
\n Tokyo
\nA 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit Japan\u2019s 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.
\nSpeaking to reporters at 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.
\n\u201cWe have already been informed that people have been injured. Power outages and fires have occurred in some areas, and there has also been damage to roads and bridges and the collapse of buildings,\u201d Takaichi said. \u201cI ask everyone to take action to protect themselves, including evacuating to a safe location.\u201d
\nAround 300,000 people have been instructed to go to evacuation centres, the disaster management agency said, while Takaichi said 3,600 soldiers would be deployed to help with the disaster recovery as aftershocks continued to rumble.
\n\u2018Like volcanic ash was falling\u2019
\n One hospital had reported more than 50 injuries, public broadcaster NHK said. Several people on a high-speed train at the time of the quake were also injured, media reported.
\nMultiple people were trapped inside an Aeon shopping mall rocked by an explosion that occurred after the earthquake, fire services said. Police said \u201cquite a few\u201d were presumed dead in the incident, broadcaster TBS reported.
\nAn Aeon spokesperson said customers and employees were evacuated right after the initial quake and that the exact cause of the ensuing explosion was unclear.
\nKazuya Tsurunaga told TBS he heard the explosion while cleaning up dishes broken by the earthquake inside a pub about 300 metres from the Aeon mall. \u201cIt was a huge impact,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cA large cloud of smoke billowed up, and because the wind happened to be blowing and the wind direction was towards the shop, the area around us was in a state like volcanic ash was falling.\u201d
\nBuildings on fire
\nSeveral other buildings were also on fire or partially collapsed, according to footage from NHK, while large cracks appeared on major roads, including an elevated highway. Rail services were halted and flights grounded.
\nTSMC, the world\u2019s largest contract chipmaker, evacuated workers from its plant in the area as a precaution, a spokesperson for the firm said. Sony and Fujifilm also evacuated staff from their plants in the area, Nikkei newspaper reported. A Sony spokesperson earlier said it was checking the situation.
\nThe quake\u2019s epicentre was about 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of Kumamoto, central Kyushu island\u2019s largest city with a population of around 700,000.
\nResidents in the areas that felt the biggest tremors must beware of further strong quakes for about a week, as well as the risk of landslides, an official for the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
\nTsunami warning lifted
\nJapan is one of the world\u2019s most earthquake-prone countries, with a tremor occurring at least every five minutes.
\nLocated along the \u201cRing of Fire\u201d of volcanoes and oceanic trenches partly encircling the Pacific Basin, Japan accounts for about 20% of the world\u2019s earthquakes of magnitude 6.0 or more.
\nA tsunami warning was issued immediately after Tuesday\u2019s quake, but was later lifted.
\nKyushu Electric Power said 48,000 homes had lost power as a result of the latest quake, while railway company JR Kyushu said that it had suspended services, including its high-speed bullet trains. Kumamoto airport also shut its runway, as airlines diverted and cancelled flights.
\nTelecoms operators KDDI and Docomo said there was disruption to their mobile phone services due to power shortages and transmission-line failures.
\nThere were no irregularities reported at the nuclear power stations in the area, Japan\u2019s nuclear regulation authority said.
\nA massive earthquake in Kumamoto 10 years ago killed 275 people and injured a further 2,739, according to an official count, and damaged thousands of buildings including the city\u2019s castle, a top tourist site.
\nSome portions of the stone walls at the castle also collapsed as a result of Tuesday\u2019s quake, an official at the castle\u2019s office said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Around 300,000 residents told to evacuate as government deploys 3,600 soldiers for disaster recovery Tokyo A 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit Japan\u2019s 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 at her office in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":558913,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-558903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n