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Japan: Hospitals struggle after deadly Kumamoto earthquake
Rescuers are searching for survivors after a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck southern Japan, killing over a dozen people and causing widespread damage. DW has more.
https://p.dw.com/p/5Hvt8 Advertisement Skip next section What you need to know What you need to know A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck southern Japan At least 13 people have died Rescuers are searching for missing employees at a partially collapsed mall Five people were killed in a factory smokestack collapse More than 36,000 homes are still without power. Here is the latest on the aftermath of the earthquake in Japan: Tired of missing our real-time updates? Click here to add us as a Preferred Source on Google. Then tap the "Star" or "Preferred" to keep DW News at the top of your feed.
07/29/2026 July 29, 2026 Borussia Dortmund express condolences while on Japan tour German Bundesliga football club Borussia Dortmund have conveyed their sympathy with the victims of Tuesday's deadly earthquake while on tour in Japan .
"Borussia Dortmund express their deepest condolences to everyone suffering from the devastating earthquake that struck Japan's Kumamoto region yesterday," the club wrote on social media. "Our thoughts are with all those affected."
BVB, who finished second in the Bundesliga last season, are currently on a summer marketing tour of Japan, playing games in Osaka and Tokyo on the central island of Honshu – hundreds of kilometers east of the earthquake epicenter off the southwestern island of Kyushu.
It's the fourth time since 2015 that BVB have visited Japan, where the club enjoys strong support.
Following the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami that struck eastern Japan in 2011, BVB played a charity game against a Japanese XI and raised €1.2 million ($1.4 million) for the reconstruction of an orphanage.
07/29/2026 July 29, 2026 'The strongest quake I have ever experienced' Earthquake survivors have been describing the moment the 7.1 magnitude quake struck Japan 's southwestern Kumamoto region.
"It was the strongest quake I have ever experienced," 73-year-old businessman Kanzo Matsuomoto told the AFP news agency. "I'm not sure if the region will recover from the damage."
Tokito Kitagawa was riding his motorcycle at the time of the earthquake and said: "Suddenly, there was a huge noise. I couldn't stay on my feet. I had to crouch down."
Kiyoshi Matsunaga, 74, was heading to the supermarket checkout just a few streets away from the collapsed Aeon shopping mall when the shaking began.
"I was frightened," he told the Associated Press, describing items being scattered from the supermarket shelves.
"I thought a bomb had gone off," Takateru Sonoda, 41, who runs a combined hair salon and café near the mall, told local news agency Jiji Press.
"There were people calling on others to evacuate and sirens were ringing out. Nearby roads were gridlocked, it was a state of panic."
Yuki Kiyozumi, deputy chief priest at a nearby temple, had just returned home from a meeting and was about to feed her cat. She recalled how she had to crawl on the floor because the shaking was so violent and said: "I don't even know if or how we can rebuild again."
07/29/2026 July 29, 2026 Hospitals struggle to cope near quake epicenter Hospitals near the epicenter have come under severe strain as power outages and a surge in casualties disrupt medical care.
A hospital in the Uki district said it was unable to operate after losing electricity in the earthquake.
"It's become like a field hospital," the head of its administrative department told Japanese public broadcaster NHK.
Another hospital in the city suspended new admissions after treating 86 injured people, including three in serious condition, saying it could no longer accept additional emergency cases.
07/29/2026 July 29, 2026 Rescuers scramble for survivors after Japan earthquake Rescuers are racing to find survivors after a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck southern Japan , killing at least 13 people and leaving widespread damage across the region.
Eight people were pulled from the rubble of a partially collapsed shopping mall near the city of Kumamoto after an apparent explosion around an hour after Tuesday's quake. However, three of those rescued later died.
Mall operator Aeon said four employees remained unaccounted for after checks on around 2,700 staff members. Customers had been evacuated immediately after the initial earthquake.
"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," Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said from Tokyo.
Powerful earthquake hits southern Japan To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Authorities are investigating whether a gas explosion caused the collapse at the Aeon mall. While rescuers reported smelling gas inside the building, government spokesperson Minoru Kihara said the cause was still unclear.
Firefighters, police and around 170 military personnel concentrated their efforts on sections of the mall where calls for help had been heard.
More than 4,500 soldiers have been deployed across the disaster zone as emergency crews search damaged buildings, restore power and assess ruptured roads.
07/29/2026 July 29, 2026 Five killed in factory chimney collapse In the city of Yatsushiro, five people were killed when part of a red-and-white smokestack collapsed at a Nippon Paper Industries factory, according to the Kumamoto prefectural government's disaster response team.
Seven people were rescued from the debris, but four others were still believed to be trapped.
07/29/2026 July 29, 2026 Widespread infrastructure damage About 260,000 people across Kumamoto prefecture have been told to seek shelter as damaged buildings, buckled roads and a collapsed bridge reveal the scale of the destruction.
Police received hundreds of emergency calls after the ea...
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