Japan Earthquake: Death Toll Rises to 13 in Kumamoto as PM Sanae Takaichi Orders Urgent Rescue Operations

The death toll from Tuesday's powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake in Japan’s southwestern Kumamoto Prefecture climbed to 13 on Wednesday, July 29, 2026. The tremor struck at 4:27 pm local time on Tuesday, July 28, 2026. Its epicentre was located 20 km south of Kumamoto City at a depth of approximately 10 km, the US Geological Survey stated.

Addressing reporters in Tokyo, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said: "Even now, there are people waiting to be rescued, and this is a race against time. We will marshal all available resources on the ground to save and rescue as many people as possible." Takaichi said the revised toll includes deaths that are still being investigated to determine whether they were directly linked to the earthquake.

Explosions and Factory Collapses

Industrial and retail sites suffered critical damage. An apparent gas leak explosion tore through the Aeon shopping mall in Kashima town shortly after the premises were evacuated. The blast killed two women in their 20s and left an unknown number of people trapped in the rubble, though rescuers pulled eight people from the debris.

"The explosion occurred after the customers and staff had evacuated," an Aeon spokesman told AFP.

Meanwhile, a partially collapsed smokestack at the Nippon Paper Industries facility in Yatsushiro trapped multiple employees. Nine workers remain missing beneath the debris as of July 29, 2026. Emergency responders previously recovered two individuals in a state of cardiac arrest.

Rescue crews continue sifting through the factory wreckage. Extreme summer heat and dozens of aftershocks severely hampered their efforts, The Guardian reported.

Widespread Disruption and Relief

Utility networks sustained extensive damage. The seismic event knocked out power supplies for more than 36,000 households, damaged roads and bridges and triggered multiple fires.

Authorities issued evacuation advisories to nearly 260,000 residents across Kumamoto Prefecture as officials warned of the risk of strong aftershocks and landslides over the coming week. Hospitals near the epicentre struggled to cope with the influx of injured people. A hospital in Uki City reported operating like a field hospital after losing power, while another suspended new admissions after treating dozens of earthquake victims.

The Japanese military deployed roughly 3,600 personnel along with 20 aircraft. These units conducted aerial damage assessments and assisted regional disaster relief operations.

Transport infrastructure sustained heavy damage—officials suspended high-speed Shinkansen train services, temporarily closed Kumamoto Airport before reopening later on Tuesday and reported significant cracks across major highways.

Industrial activities faced immediate halts. Major manufacturers like Honda suspended plant operations. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. evacuated workers temporarily before gradually resuming work.

Tokyo Electron suspended activities at its Koshi and Ozu facilities through July 29 for safety inspections.

Seismic History of Kumamoto

Japan sits on the seismically active Pacific "Ring of Fire" and experiences hundreds of earthquakes annually.

Kumamoto suffered massive devastation during a series of powerful tremors in 2016. Those quakes killed over 270 people and inflicted extensive structural damage across the prefecture.