The death toll from the magnitude 7.1 earthquake that struck Japan's Kumamoto prefecture rose to 30 as of 2 p.m. on the 30th. The central government and local authorities are making all-out efforts to restore damage and carry out rescue work, but casualties are mounting as collapsed buildings, extreme heat, and large-scale power and water outages compound the crisis.
According to local media, including the Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun and Kyodo News, Sanae Takaichi, Japan's prime minister, said at an emergency disaster response headquarters meeting held at 2 p.m. that "including cases under investigation for links to the quake, the death toll has reached 30." Earlier, Minister Minoru Gihara, the chief cabinet secretary, put the toll at 28 at about 11:10 a.m. the same day, but the number of victims rose by two in three hours. Minister Gihara, addressing the discrepancy between the central government and local governments' tallies, said, "The government first shares flash figures confirmed by police and fire authorities, and the prefecture experiences a time lag as it compiles information from basic municipalities before announcing."
Casualties were concentrated at large commercial facilities and factories. According to Kumamoto prefecture's own tally, eight people lost their lives at the Nippon Paper Industries factory in Yatsushiro. Five died in the explosion at the Aeon Mall Kumamoto, a large shopping mall in Kashima-machi. Yoshida Akio, president of Aeon, held a news conference that day and offered a deep apology to the bereaved families. It was found that more than 4,000 people, including visitors and employees, had crowded inside the mall at the time.
In addition, there were victims across the region, including three in Yatsushiro and one in Kosa-machi. The number of critical patients in cardiac arrest stands at six. Minister Gihara emphasized, "As 40 hours have passed since the earthquake, saving lives has become a race against time," adding, "Rescue workers are staking their lives on lifesaving operations."
Survivors are also locked in a struggle under harsh conditions. As of 10:10 a.m. on the 30th, more than 10,400 residents were sheltering at 415 evacuation centers across Kumamoto prefecture. In the wake of the quake, tap water was cut off to 75,000 households in affected areas including Uki city. More than 23,000 dwellings were without electricity. With air conditioners and refrigerators completely shut down amid midsummer heat, displaced residents are suffering severe hardship, local media reported. Kumamoto Castle, a signature cultural asset symbolizing Kumamoto prefecture, also sustained various degrees of damage, including the collapse of 27 sections of its stone walls.
Damage to industrial infrastructure has continued, flashing warning lights across the Japanese economy. Tokyo Electron Kyushu, Renesas Electronics, and Sony Semiconductor, among other major semiconductor corporations, kept plants idled on the 30th for safety checks. The Kyushu region is a core industrial hub clustered with major semiconductor, electronic component, and automobile-related corporations. The Japanese government said it prioritized emergency repairs to parts of key port facilities, including Yatsushiro Port and Kumamoto Port, to avert a logistics meltdown. Kyodo News reported that Japan Coast Guard patrol vessels are now fully transporting drinking water and relief supplies through the restored ports.
The powerful quake struck at 4:27 p.m. on the 28th in areas including Uki city and Hikawa-machi in Kumamoto prefecture. The depth of the hypocenter is estimated at 16 km, with a magnitude of 7.1. It is the first time since the 2016 major earthquake that a seismic intensity of 7 has been observed in Kumamoto. Since then, more than 200 aftershocks of intensity 1 or higher have continued through 2 p.m. on the 30th, leaving residents across the area in extreme anxiety.