Japan PM confirms deaths, damage in Kumamoto earthquake

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Wednesday that the death toll from the 7.1-magnitude earthquake that struck Kumamoto Prefecture had risen to 13, according to the Mainichi Shimbun media outlet.

Takaichi also confirmed the quake and resulting fires had a severe impact on infrastructure, including multiple building collapses and damage to roads.

According to NHK, Japan's public broadcaster, the Kumamoto local government said that as of 9:30 am on Wednesday, 465 evacuation centers had been set up across the prefecture to shelter 9,872 evacuees. Around 36,700 households remained without power.

Kyodo News reported that about 140,000 households in 17 municipalities across Kumamoto Prefecture were without running water following the earthquake, citing the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

The JR Kyushu railway operator said all train services on its network, including the Kyushu Shinkansen high-speed line and all conventional rail lines, had been suspended.

Kumamoto is home to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's manufacturing hub in Kyushu. The seismic intensity reached upper 5 in Kikuyo, the site of TSMC's chip factory.

Nikkei reported, citing a TSMC spokesperson, that the seismic intensity recorded at JASM reached the threshold for personnel evacuation, prompting an immediate precautionary evacuation. The spokesperson added that JASM's Phase II construction site was not damaged, but that some construction work has been suspended as a precaution because of the risk of aftershocks.

Tsunami advisories were issued for the Ariake and Yatsushiro seas after the quake but were later lifted, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).

Minoru Kihara, chief cabinet secretary, said on Tuesday that nuclear power stations in the area were unaffected by the earthquake.

The quake recorded a maximum seismic intensity of 7 in the hardest-hit areas. According to JMA, it was the first time a seismic intensity of 7 had been recorded in Japan since the Noto Peninsula earthquake in January 2024.

It was also the first time Kumamoto Prefecture had recorded a seismic intensity of 7 since the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes. Kumamoto Prefecture was hit by a series of powerful earthquakes in 2016, leaving nearly 300 people dead and causing widespread damage to infrastructure.