At least 13 killed in Japan earthquake as rescuers search for survivors in a ‘race against time’

At least 13 people have been killed in southwestern Japan after a magnitude-7.1 earthquake, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Wednesday, as rescuers searched for people trapped in collapsed buildings, including a shopping mall.

“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,” Takaichi told reporters in Tokyo.

The quake struck Tuesday afternoon in Kumamoto prefecture on Japan’s southern main island of Kyushu at a relatively shallow depth of 6 miles, prompting tsunami warnings and evacuation from coastal areas. The epicenter was about 12 miles south of the city of Kumamoto, which has a population of about 700,000.

While the tsunami warning was lifted shortly after, the quake caused extensive damage throughout the prefecture, including to historic buildings such as Kumamoto Castle, a popular tourist site that is still under repair from another deadly quake in the same area in 2016.

My first thought was if Kagra was ok. Kagra is Japan’s version of a gravity wave detector. A previous earthquake knocked out the detector for months. These detectors are so sensitive a cat walking nearby would be recorded. Obviously a severe shaking from an Earthquake brakes them . Grok says, so far, no damage recorded.

Tale of two coutries.

2026 Venezuela earthquakes

On 24 June 2026, two large strike-slip earthquakes affected northwestern and central Venezuela. The epicenter of the first earthquake was in Veroes Municipality, west of San Felipe, the capital city of Yaracuy. This earthquake, which measured Mw 7.2, occurred at 18:04 VET and was classified as a foreshock. It was followed by a Mw 7.5 mainshock 30 seconds later centered off the coast of La Guaira, west of Catia La Mar. The two earthquakes caused widespread damage across the country, particularly in the capital Caracas and especially the state of La Guaira, where 80% of buildings collapsed. As of July 2026, it has been confirmed that more than 5,500 people were killed, 16,700 were injured, and tens of thousands still remain missing.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) system predicted the death toll could be significantly higher than the initial reports, potentially exceeding 10,000. The mainshock was the strongest in Venezuela since the 1900 San Narciso earthquake.

As I wrote in another thread , we live 5 minutes away from the shopping mall . Didin’t get much sleep again last night . We had 30+ aftershocks , some 4 or 5 magnitude , during the night . Tired and very , very stressed out . Praying our water is turned back on soon .

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