Large earthquake rocks Japan, prompting tsunami warnings

Multiple people were trapped in a collapsed mall in southern Japan Tuesday after a major earthquake hit the country and triggered a tsunami warning.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the earthquake, with a preliminary magnitude of 7.1 and depth of 10 kilometers, or just over 6 miles, was at the highest end of the seismic intensity scale.

Japan’s Cabinet Office’s Disaster Management Division said the earthquake struck at around 4:27 p.m. local time (3:27 a.m. ET), with a tsunami advisory issued for the Ariake and Yatsushiro Seas minutes later. The warning was later lifted, state broadcaster NHK reported.

People were trapped in a local mall, according to fire officials, who said an explosion had also been heard on the building’s second floor.

State broadcaster NHK carried footage of almost a dozen fire trucks in the facility’s parking lot. Images also showed the mall’s collapsed ceilings and facade, and a debris-littered road.

Several other buildings were also damaged, video from the region showed. At least 12 houses collapsed and least 50 people were injured.

Train services around the Kyushu island were suspended, rail operator JR Kyushu said.

Japan experiences tremors — both minor and major — almost every day, making it one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world. In 2016, Kumamoto was devasted by a series of quakes that killed nearly 300 people. The East Asian country sits on the “Ring of Fire,” where several tectonic plates converge, triggering many of the world’s earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Nearly 20% of global earthquakes measuring 6.0 or higher occur in Japan. Since 2011, when a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami triggered meltdowns at three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and killed nearly 20,000 people, Japan has significantly strengthened its earthquake warning systems and evacuation protocols.

In Yatsushiro, a verified video showed that a rupture on the Kyushu expressway had trapped vehicles. NHK showed aerial images of an elevated stretch of the highway where two sections had become misaligned.

An X account appearing to belong to the tourist attraction said that its operations would be suspended for at least the rest of Tuesday “due to the impact” of the earthquake.

Video published online and geolocated by NBC News appeared to show part of the outer walls of the Kumamoto Castle, a popular tourist destination in the area, damaged and surrounded by a cloud of dust.

The temblor struck just over a decade after the castle was also damaged in the deadly earthquakes that rocked the area in 2016.

Livecam video published online also appeared to show buildings shaking in Kumamoto City.

The National Weather Service said there was no tsunami warning, advisory, watch or threat in place for Hawaii or American Samoa.

Kyushu Electric Power said it had not found any abnormalities at either the Genkai Nuclear Power Station in Saga Prefecture or the Sendai Nuclear Power Station in Kagoshima Prefecture, NHK reported. The radiation levels around the stations have also not changed, it said.