A magnitude 7.1 quake struck Kumamoto, causing bridge collapses, train derailments, and widespread outages. Emergency teams report injuries, fires, and structural damage across the region.
Authorities urge caution as strong aftershocks continue.
熊本で震度7の地震が発生し、橋の崩落や列車脱線、停電など広範囲で被害が出ています。
負傷者、火災、建物損壊が相次ぎ、緊急対応が続いています。
強い余震への警戒が呼びかけられています。
Authorities urge caution as strong aftershocks continue.
熊本で震度7の地震が発生し、橋の崩落や列車脱線、停電など広範囲で被害が出ています。
負傷者、火災、建物損壊が相次ぎ、緊急対応が続いています。
強い余震への警戒が呼びかけられています。
Breaking News: M7.1 Quake Hits Kumamoto Pref.
Bridge Damage and Road Safety
I believe that another smaller scale of the bridge, which is probably dedicated to the pedestrians and the bicycles, collapsed, and also the buttless.
Well, the pillars are disappearing from this side that I cannot see.
Maybe that the different structure or the deformed structure and the main bridge stays intact.
However, that you can see the part is collapsed.
How this was folded structurally that we don't know.
So this is probably caused by the earthquake, the damage caused by the earthquake is undoubtedly.
And you can see that on the side of on the main expressway that the roads, the cars are passing.
it looks to be relatively new, but the road may be damaged with a step wide of that, the difference of the elevation may take place after the earthquake and this should be inspected. And if you are driving a car, be extremely careful.
the smaller bridge, the side of the main bridge collapsed.
Yatsushiro City: Collapsed Houses and Blackouts
00:01:21 話者 1
And this is the footage from the Yatsushiro City of the Kumamoto Prefecture.
If you drive the cars, these are the things that are happening, and therefore be very, very careful if you drive the cars right now.
And in Yatsushiro City of the Upper Six, according to the local police, Yatsushiro City, Kagamimachi,
And there are the people who are trapped in the collapsed house, and there was a report to the police of the Yatsushito Police.
Let me repeat: in Yatsushito City, those are the upper six of the intensity, according to local police that in Kagami Nozaki and there is a reporting of the people trapped in the club's houses and also the blackout as well.
According to the media, according to the earthquakes, because of the earthquakes that the city gas, LP gas and also the power generation that they are inspecting whether any
damages.
Widespread Power Outages
According to Kyushu Power Electricity Companies, about 48,000 households are out of the electricity right now in Kumamoto City.
Seismic Intensity and Affected Municipalities
00:02:32 話者 1
At 4:27 p.m., a strong earthquake occurred in Kumamoto Prefecture in Ukishi and Hikawa-cho that the intensity of seven was observed, and also that the upper six that the Minami district, Yatsushiro city, and Udo, Nemisatosumachi, and Mashimki Machi, and these are the places of the upper six.
And the lower six in Kumamoto project, Kami Amakusa, Koshi, and Utsumachi, and Eshiharamura, and Mihunemachi, and Ashikita townships.
These are the places of the upper six.
00:03:07 話者 2
The meteorological agency says in Kashima town and Kosa town of Kumamoto prefecture, which is close to the focus, they are unable to know or observe the seismic intensity.
And the agency says that in the local governments near them, the seismic intensity of 5 is expected and a seismic intensity of upper five was registered in Kumamoto Prefectures, Central Ward, Higashi Ward, Nishi Ward, and others, and in Kikuyo Town and Tsunagi Town, and Nagasaki Prefectures, Minami-Shimabara City, in Kagoshima Prefectures, Satsuma Sendai City, Satsuma Town, and Nagashima Town.
Lower five was registered in many regions in Kumoto, Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Miyazaki, and Kagoshima Prefectures.
The meteorological agency says that the focus of the quake is in Kumamoto region and the depth is 10 kilometers and magnitude is estimated to be 7.1.
Cargo Train Derailment
00:04:17 話者 2
This is the current situation in Yatsushiro city in Kumamoto.
You can see the cargo train has been turned over, it could be the locomotive engine.
The train has collapsed and derailed, probably.
And this is Yatsushiro town in Kumamoto prefecture.
And this information just in Jr. Cargo says, in Yatsushiro city where seismic intensity of upper six was registered, a cargo train has derailed and flipped.
There are no passengers on board and Jr. cargo is currently checking whether the conductor is safe or not.
We don't know if this is the actual train that has been reported, but we can see that the train has derailed hand hat turned on the side.
And we have information that a train has derailed and turned to the side.
Looking at this image, the train is detached from the cargo car, so we don't know what the relationship is between the positions here.
But what we can say is that the first car has turned to that side, has derailed.
That could be confirmed from this image.
Generally speaking, when there is a strong jolt,
Yes, so yes, this train has derailed and on the side.
So the cargo train has derailed.
So depending on the situation, maybe they were one train all connected together.
So the cargo car as well as the train itself.
And there are several cars that are on the side, so you can see the derailment in many of the cars. So I think this train had been affected by a very strong jolt.
00:06:25 話者 3
And the damage, what caused this damage, we don't know, but this area may have been shaken very violently.
And usually, if the shaking is not that violent, this doesn't happen.
And also the cargo and the train car, we can see that the earthquake has affected them greatly.
In any case, the Kumamoto earthquake was an intensity 7 on the Japanese scale of 0 to 7 compared to the Noto earthquake and the previous Kumamoto earthquake.
It's on par with them and therefore we may imagine that similar damage has been caused.
And it's now 6 p.m. Please make sure that you find a safe place to stay this evening and also look around and see if there's anybody needing help.
Also, try to tell everybody around you if you are safe.
00:07:27 話者 3
And now we have a phone call connected to Kashima City of Kumamoto Prefecture.
We have the General Affairs Division person, Sakaguchi-san.
Thank you very much.
Can you hear us?
Yes.
In your town, we don't know the intensity of the earthquake there.
But what was the shake like?
Well, it felt very strong.
So I believe it's lower six or maybe upper six or even lower seven.
That's how strong the jolt was felt.
And right now, where are you?
Well, right now I'm inside the town hall and I'm trying to deal with the situation here.
Are you getting information about damage inside the municipality?
Well, yes, we hear about some injuries and well water.
Some people say that it's turned muddy and they can't drink or use the water from the wells.
And also, what is the situation with the lifeline, like power, water supply, and others?
Well, the water supply, the wells are being used, the well water is being used in many households. And people say that the water from the tap is turning muddy.
They can't really drink the water.
That's one thing. And also concerning blackouts, we have not been able to confirm the situation ourselves yet.
And also about people who have evacuated.
Do you have any information about them?
Well, so far, no, we don't know.
We don't have any information about people who have evacuated.
Now, I'm very sorry. I'd like to ask you, right now, around the office, what is the situation about collapsed buildings or any fires? Can you tell us what you see?
00:09:30 話者 1
We have not checked the details yet, so this is preliminary information.
There are some smokes observed at some places and also the city hall that I can see some whitish smoke rising after the explosive sound.
Yes.
Again, I have to refrain from saying anything categorical because it is preliminary information.
Is the information quite confused about the damaged information?
Not exactly.
Right now, yes.
Well, the telephones are calling one after the telephones are not ringing off the phone, for example.
So, so far, that it is enough for us to take measures.
But the more that we know about the damage, there may be the situation we have to be more concerned. I don't know.
During the night, what are the support that are you going to provide for the sheltered people or evacuees?
As for the shelter centers -- I'm sorry.
I'm sorry. Well,
The tsunami warrant tsunami advisory was lifted.
Sakaguchi-san, I'm very sorry.
But this news has just come in.
Sorry for the interruption.
That tsunami advisory was lifted.
And after the dark and during the night, what is your wish to the local people?
First of all, to contain
that ensure your safety and also to protect yourself from the aftershocks and the tsunami.
Well, thank you very much, Mr. Sakaguchi, and be careful yourself.
Thank you.
Sakaguchi-san is from the General Affairs section of the city hold of the Kashima Township.
Long-Period Ground Motion Effects
00:11:31 話者 1
This is the Yatsushiro cities, and this is the Japan paper. that are limited.
And you can see that the Nippon Paper Corporations, the building, that you can see that the stack is collapsed in the middle of their Yatsushiro, the plant of the Nippon Seishi, the plant.
You can see that the footage tells you that the stack, that the big stack was collapsed.
It was broken into two because of the level four of the long period ground motion.
And so the shaking was violent and also that continued a long time, which was suspected because the big structure like this has affected in a significant way the breaking of the stack in two, for example, or the rollover of the cargo trains. attest to this big shaking.
Continued Aftershocks and Structural Risks
00:12:40 話者 2
So please ensure safety around you first.
This is the key message we want to convey to people on the ground.
things might fall from unexpected places and there could be secondary damage, so please be on the alert.
This is footage from above the Yatsushiro city in Kumamoto Prefecture.
At 4:27 p.m., a seismic intensity of maximum of seven was registered and then there was a seismic intensity of five later on, two minutes later, so there's a danger that they will be continuing to have strong jolts.
So right now the structures might be in place, but the next quake might actually collapse such structures.
So please be on the alert. Little by little we are knowing, we are finding out what is going on.
There's been some collapse of houses, infrastructures, as well as water pipes bursting.
And there are also regions where we don't know what the seismic intensity was, so please be on the alert.
Medical Response and Injuries
The seismic intensity of seven was registered in Hikawa Town at the Yatsushiro Northern Medical Center.
Shortly before 6 p.m., more than about 50 people due to injuries have been transported or have visited the hospital.
Once again, in Kumamoto Prefecture's Hikawa Town at the Yatsushiro Northern Region Medical Center shortly before 6 p.m. at least around 50 people due to injuries have been transported or have arrived at the hospital.
Nuclear Power Plant Status
And here's an information about the nuclear power plant Kyushu region and Shikoku region. Each of the electricity companies says that they have not seen any abnormalities.
Kyushu electric power company says a seismic intensity of upper five was registered in Kagoshima prefecture's Sasuma Sendai Sea.
The Sendai number one and number two plants are in operation, but there are no abnormalities registered at this moment.
As you can see, there was a seismic intensity of two in Saga Prefecture's Genkai Town's Genkai Nuclear Power Plant.
Number three is going through inspections and is out of operation, as well as number four is not in operation.
Shikoku Electric Power Company says a seismic intensity of four was registered in Ikata Town, Ikime Prefecture.
Ikata Nuclear Power Plant number three is in operation, but they did not see any abnormalities at this moment.
For all nuclear power plants, the monitoring posts are not showing any deviations in the radioactive material and measurements.
Building Collapses and Missing Persons
00:15:34 話者 3
According to the Kumamoto police, where intensity 7 was observed as of 512 buildings or houses have collapsed and in four cases people have been trapped under the rubble.
It's mainly in Yatsushiro city.
And also people who have not been contacted, right now there are about nine within the prefecture.
And this is according to the Kumamoto Prefectural Police.
Expressway Damage and Fires
Now looking at the latest on the earthquake, this is the Kyushu Expressway, and because of the shaking, we can see that parts of the road have collapsed.
And this is Yatsushiro City, Kumomuto Prefecture, the Kyushu Expressway.
We can see that along two bridge piers, the road has shifted and are misaligned.
And we also see some fire occurring.
In Uki City as of 5 p.m., we see flames coming out of buildings and we also see black smoke rising from the buildings.
And this is within Kumamoto City right after the earthquake or right when the earthquake occurred.
The speaker says that he is on a bypass and he can see that the poles are shaking widely.
And we also hear the alarm sound of the early earthquake warning.
And this is as of 5 p.m. also in Kumamoto City.
The driver says that the traffic lights are not on, they are not working.
And he also says that from the road he sees water seeping out.
He says that he sees water seeping out from the road.
And there are cracks along the road. This is in Kumamoto.
And This could be because of the earthquake. There are cracks along the road.
Evacuations and Public Reaction
00:17:44 話者 1
This is the central district, Kumamoto, and many people evacuated to outside of the building to the road after a big jolt happened very just now.
I used to work at the eighth floor of the building and all the furniture collapsed and she said that it was the mess inside of her office.
At around 5 o'clock, this is the Kumamoto station in front of the Kumamoto station.
Many people are gathered in front of the stations looking at the smartphone screens and calling their friends and relatives.
J.R.'s operation is going to be suspended all that the convention and on the Shinkansen.
And I was in the third floor of the building, but the jolt was strong and long, and she was very, very surprised.
Kagoshima is close by and she was planning to go back home tonight, but it is very difficult tonight.
And this woman says horizontally that the jolt was very violent and she was afraid that the ceiling is going to collapse and she felt her legs started to shake.
Mountain Slope Dust and Castle Damage
This is Midabishiraba city of the Kumamoto prefecture at about the earthquake took place.
You can see that the white smoke-like things are rising from the mid of the mountains.
So you can see that this is probably that the dust is going down from the slope of the mountains of the Kumamoto prefecture.
And Kumamoto, the district area in center of five, according to the city center of the general affairs sections, a part of the stone walls of the Kumamoto castle partly collapsed.
However, there are no reports of the damage or the injuries of the visitors.
And according to operators of the Kumamoto airport, in Masukimachi, Kumamoto
airport where the upper sixth of the intensity was observed.
And oh, that taking off and landing of the aircrafts are suspended for the inspection.
There is no plan of that resuming the operation.
Telecommunications Disruptions
00:20:15 話者 2
And we are hearing about cell phone services in Kumamoto parts of the areas.
They are unable to provide telecommunication service and DOCOMO says
including emergency alerts.
Part of Kumamoto Prefecture, they are having a hard time providing connections and providing communication services.
KDDI, that operates AU, says in Yatsushiro City and Hitoshi City in Kumamoto Prefecture, they are unable to provide or having a hard time connecting communication service, including emergency alerts.
Rakuten Mobile says in part of Kumamoto Prefecture, they are having a difficulty providing the telecommunication services and sometimes the connection is not that far available.
Softbank says there are no major effects from this quake at this moment.
All telecommunication carriers are saying that they are checking on the damage to the base stations and via internet you may use the bulletin board service for disaster hit people where you could register your safety and whereabouts.
Collapse of Commercial Facility
00:21:25 話者 2
We are looking at the live footage of Kumamoto.
This It seems to be a very large structure and you can see it has collapsed significantly.
So the ceiling and the outer walls have collapsed.
This is said to be a commercial facility in Kumamoto city.
A part of the ceiling has been gone.
So we just see the structure, the base structure, and there are people who are near the building.
We hear that this is a commercial facility in Kumamoto Prefecture.
There are no emergency vehicles nearby.
We do identify several people near the structure, but we can see the collapsed walls and some of the part of the structure that has fallen a little bit far from the building itself.
So it shows the significance of the jolt.
Yes, we can't really tell what it is, but even if it's just a jolt that caused such a collapse, it's hard to believe that a significant jolt only would cause such a structure.
Maybe there could be another phenomenon that occurred.
What do you mean phenomenon?
So together with the jolt, there could have been some sort of, for example, a fire could occur or some other developments.
Tsunami Advisory Lifted
00:23:02 話者 4
This is NHK World Japan's breaking news on Japan's strong earthquake.
A shortly after 6 p.m., the Japan Meteorological Agency lifted the tsunami advisory for the coast of the Ariake Sea and the Yatsuchiro Sea.
Once again, the JMA has already lifted the tsunami advisory that was once in place for the coast of the Ariake Sea and the Yatsuchiro Sea.
And going back to the earthquake itself, and an extremely powerful one has struck Japan's Kyushu region.
The Japan Meteorological Agency has once issued a tsunami advisory for the coast of the Ariake Sea and the Yatsuchiro Sea, but As I just said, it's been now lifted.
The magnitude of the earthquake was 7.1. It is struck in Kumamoto Prefecture at 4:27 p.m., about two hours ago from now, on Tuesday.
It registered an intensity of 7 on the Japanese seismic scale of 0 to 7.
It's the most powerful one.
The last time a quake hit that level was during the 2024 Noto Peninsular New Year's quake.
Long tremors that could rock high-rise buildings have been recorded in the region.
The JMA calls this long-period ground motion. It affects people on higher floors.
A four-level scale ranks their intensity. There was class 4 shaking in Kamamoto region.
and that is so strong it can be impossible to move without crawling.
Government Response
And moving on, Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae made a statement at her office.
00:24:53 話者 5/Takaichi Sanae
I instructed relevant ministries and agencies to determine the extent of damage as soon as possible and closely coordinate with local governments and make utmost efforts to take emergency measures such as saving and rescuing disaster victims under the government's policy of putting human lives first and also provide information on tsunami and evacuation to the people in an appropriate manner.
00:25:22 話者 4
She said the government has received reports of some injuries and damage to roads and bridges, as well as fires and power blackouts.
Takaichi said a team has been dispatched to the affected area to assess the situation on the ground.
Meteorological Agency Briefing
The Japan Meteorological Agency held a news conference.
00:25:46 話者 5/Kiyomoto Masashi/Japan Meteorological Agency
Because this earthquake occurred at a shallow depth, many tremors are taking place.
Please remain alert for further tremors and rainfall, and please stay away from dangerous areas. And also, please be alert for potential earthquakes with a maximum seismic intensity of around 7 over the next week or so.
JR Freight Derailment Confirmation
00:26:06 話者 4
Jr. Freight Railway Company says a freight train derailed and overturned at Yatsushiro Station in Yatsushiro City, Kumamoto Prefecture. No passengers are reported injured.
The company is checking whether the train driver was injured.
As we've been reporting, a perflous series of earthquakes struck Japan's Kyushu region on Tuesday afternoon.
Summary of Aftershocks and Long-Period Motion
The Japan Meteorological Agency has now lifted its tsunami advisory.
A magnitude 7.1 tremor struck in Kumamoto Prefecture at 4.27 p.m. 2 hours ago.
It registered intensity 7 on the Japanese seismic scale of 0 to 7.
The last time to hit that level was the 2024 Noto Peninsular New Year's quake.
Tuesday's powerful quake was followed by a number of others, some of which reached up to lower five on the Japanese scale. Long tremors were also recorded in the region.
The JMA calls this long-period ground motion and ranks its intensity on a four-level scale.
These tremors can rock high-rise buildings and affect people on higher floors.
The Kumamoto region saw class 4 shaking that is strong enough to make it impossible to move without crawling. And class 3 tremors make it difficult to remain standing.
These were felt in the Amakusa and Ashikita regions of the prefecture.
Experts say this can be strong enough to topple furniture.
Live Footage of Shopping Mall Fire
We're getting some live footage of the Kumamoto prefecture of shopping mall.
This is an aerial shot. We see two fire engines and some fire.
NHK World
00:28:01 話者 99
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