At least 13 people died after a powerful earthquake struck southwest Japan on Tuesday [1].

The disaster has triggered a massive rescue operation in the Kumamoto prefecture on Kyushu island. Emergency teams are currently prioritizing the recovery of survivors trapped under the rubble of a shopping mall and a factory chimney.

The earthquake hit at 16:27 local time [3] on July 28, 2026. The U.S. Geological Survey recorded the magnitude at 6.8 [2], though some reports cited a magnitude as high as 7.1 [5]. The seismic activity caused severe structural collapses in Kumamoto city, where a shopping mall became a primary site for search and rescue efforts.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi visited the affected areas to oversee the response. The scale of the debris has complicated the efforts to reach those buried beneath the concrete.

"We are in a race against time," Takaichi said [6].

Rescue personnel are focusing on the shopping mall, where witnesses reported people were trapped inside when the ceilings and walls gave way. Specialist teams are using heavy machinery and sensors to locate heartbeats beneath the ruins. A factory chimney also collapsed, adding to the number of critical search zones.

"Rescue personnel are working to free those trapped in collapsed buildings after the quake," a New York Times correspondent said [7].

Local authorities have not yet confirmed the total number of missing persons, but the death toll has already risen to 13 [1]. The government has deployed additional emergency units to the region to assist in the recovery of victims, and the stabilization of damaged infrastructure.

“"We are in a race against time."”

This event underscores the ongoing vulnerability of the Kyushu region to high-magnitude seismic activity. The collapse of a modern shopping mall suggests that despite Japan's stringent building codes, extreme magnitude events can still cause catastrophic structural failure, potentially prompting a review of urban safety standards in Kumamoto.