Skip next section What you need to know
What you need to know
DW brings you top headlines on the aftermath of the earthquake in Japan:
- A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck southern Japan
- At least 35 people have died
- Rescuers continue to look for for survivors, including at the collapsed Aeon Mall
- Tens of thousands of homes are still lacking water
- About 800 households remained without power as of late Friday afternoon
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Skip next section Sniffer dogs make final sweep as Japan quake toll hits 3507/31/2026July 31, 2026
Sniffer dogs make final sweep as Japan quake toll hits 35
Sniffer dogs are helping rescuers carry out a final search of a shopping mall torn apart by a suspected gas explosion after Tuesday’s quake.
Government spokesperson Minoru Kihara said 11 people had been pulled from the wreckage of the Aeon mall by Thursday night, seven of them dead.
“To make sure that no one else is inside, we are finalizing our checks with the assistance of professionally trained dogs,” he said.
The mall was evacuated before the explosion, which struck more than an hour after the magnitude 7.1 quake. Local media reported that all employees had now been accounted for.
At a paper factory hit by another major collapse, rescuers recovered nine bodies and ended the search operation, Kihara said.
Two survivors were also pulled from the site after a smokestack came crashing down.
https://p.dw.com/p/5I4V5Skip next section Thousands of Kumamoto homes still without water amid sweltering heat 07/31/2026July 31, 2026
Thousands of Kumamoto homes still without water amid sweltering heat
Some 800 households remain without electricity as if Friday, while more than 79,000 homes in Kumamoto prefecture still have no water supply, according to regional authorities.
More than 9,000 people are staying in evacuation shelters amid dangerously high temperatures. Authorities said additional power sources and hundreds of air-conditioning units are being installed.
Fuel has also become scarce after power cuts disabled filling stations. Fuel deliveries from other regions have also been hampered by earthquake damage.
Many Kumamoto residents have been sleeping in their cars. Due to fuel shortages, however, many are struggle to keep air conditioning running in the sweltering heat.
Television footage showed long lines for petrol and drinking water as authorities worked to restore essential services.
https://p.dw.com/p/5I4B4Skip next section Japan earthquake death toll rises to 3407/31/2026July 31, 2026
Japan earthquake death toll rises to 34
The death toll from a powerful earthquake in southwestern Japan has risen to 34 as rescuers continue searching damaged buildings three days after the disaster.
The Kumamoto prefectural government said one further death was still being investigated as possibly linked to the magnitude 7.1 quake, meaning the toll could rise to 35. More than 80 people have been injured, including five seriously.
https://p.dw.com/p/5I467Skip next section WATCH — Japanese rescuers share video inside mall after earthquake sparks explosion07/29/2026July 29, 2026
WATCH — Japanese rescuers share video inside mall after earthquake sparks explosion
Officials shared video from inside the Aeon mall in Kashima, Japan, that was destroyed after a magnitude 7.1 earthquake sparked an explosion inside the building.
Investigators suspect a gas leak caused the blast, which tore through the mall around an hour after the quake.
https://p.dw.com/p/5HyQDSkip next section Borussia Dortmund express condolences while on Japan tour07/29/2026July 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.
https://p.dw.com/p/5HxkoSkip next section ‘The strongest quake I have ever experienced’07/29/2026July 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.”
https://p.dw.com/p/5HxgISkip next section Hospitals struggle to cope near quake epicenter07/29/2026July 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.
https://p.dw.com/p/5HwNfSkip next section Rescuers scramble for survivors after Japan earthquake07/29/2026July 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.
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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.
https://p.dw.com/p/5HwF5Skip next section Five killed in factory chimney collapse07/29/2026July 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.
https://p.dw.com/p/5HwLmSkip next section Widespread infrastructure damage07/29/2026July 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 earthquake, including reports of collapsed structures and people in need of rescue.
The epicentre was around 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) south of Kumamoto City, the largest city in the central part of Kyushu island and home to about 700,000 people. Over 100 aftershocks followed the initial quake.
The port city of Yatsushiro was among the worst-hit areas. Part of a local bridge fell into the Kumagawa River, while authorities warned residents to remain alert for further powerful tremors and landslides over the coming week.
The earthquake reached the maximum level of 7 on Japan’s seismic intensity scale in some areas.
More than 36,000 homes remained without electricity on Wednesday as temperatures climbed to around 34 degrees Celsius, prompting authorities to issue heatstroke warnings.
https://p.dw.com/p/5HwPiSkip next section Major manufacturers halt production07/29/2026July 29, 2026
Major manufacturers halt production
Several major companies, including Renesas Electronics, Sony, Tokyo Electron and Honda, have suspended operations in their Kumamoto plants following the earthquake.
Toyota Motor said it would also halt work at three factories outside Kumamoto prefecture through Friday because of the impact on suppliers.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, evacuated employees from its local plant as a precaution after the quake.
The company said it began gradually resuming operations late on Tuesday.
https://p.dw.com/p/5HwRpSkip next section How prone is the region to earthquakes?07/29/2026July 29, 2026
How prone is the region to earthquakes?
Japan is one of the world’s most earthquake-prone countries because it lies on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a belt of volcanoes and ocean trenches where several tectonic plates meet.
The country accounts for around 20% of the world’s earthquakes of magnitude 6.0 or higher.
The Kumamoto prefecture was struck by a devastating earthquake 10 years ago that killed 275 people, injured another 2,739 and damaged thousands of buildings.
The walls of Kumamoto Castle, one of the city’s main tourist attractions, were badly damaged in that disaster.
The castle was damaged once again in Tuesday’s earthquake. The tremblor also affected local shrines and a 17th-century tea house.
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