A magnitude-7 earthquake struck Kumamoto Prefecture on July 28, triggering a massive explosion at AEON Mall Kumamoto in Kashima that partially collapsed its second floor and left numerous people trapped inside. The blast sheared away exterior walls, exposing the building's steel frame, and a powerful shockwave followed roughly 20 minutes after the initial tremor.
Rescue crews from police, fire departments, and the Self-Defense Forces worked through the night, though structural instability complicated access. By the morning of July 29, footage released by the National Police Agency showed the devastated interior — collapsed ceilings, dangling pipes, and shattered shelving. Nearby, a chimney at a Nippon Paper Industries mill partially collapsed, trapping 11 workers; two of four rescued were in cardiopulmonary arrest.
The disaster left communities across the region grappling with water outages and insufficient shelter space, while debris from the mall explosion littered the surrounding area and blew out the windshield of a nearby truck.