QUAKE COLLAPSE

People Trapped as Monster Earthquake Destroys Mall

More than 150,000 residents fled to evacuation centers as a tsunami warning was issued.

“Many people” are trapped inside a partially collapsed shopping mall in Japan after a magnitude-7.1 earthquake rocked the south-west of the nation. The quake hit Kyushu, the country’s southern main island, at 4:27 p.m. local time (3:27 a.m. Eastern) on Tuesday. More than 150,000 residents were told to flee to evacuation centers as a tsunami warning was issued, before it was later rescinded. Broadcaster NHK said “many people” were trapped inside the Aeon Mall, which is in the Kumamoto region. Fire officials said an explosion brought down a section of the second story, trapping people inside. Nearby, sections of stone walls at the ancient Kumamoto Castle collapsed. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, 65, said the full scale of the damage from the earthquake was still being counted. “We have already been informed that people have been injured,” she told reporters. One hospital is treating upward of 50 injured people. Kyushu Electric Power said roughly 48,000 homes were without power. Two earthquakes struck the same prefecture in April 2016, leaving 278 people dead.