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Japan earthquake: What we know so far

Japan is reeling from the latest major earthquake to hit the country. Nineteen people are missing at an Aeon shopping centre and a paper factory after the 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit Kyushu island, an official said. The quake has also caused power cuts, damaged roads, collapsed a castle wall and destroyed a footbridge. Information is still coming out of Japan but here is what we know so far.

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Scoop News DeskKumamoto, Japan · Published Tuesday, July 28, 2026 at 3:45 PM UTCUpdated Tuesday, July 28, 2026 at 8:05 PM UTC

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A total of 278 people were killed in 2016 by powerful quakes in Kumamoto and neighbouring Oita prefectures, according to Japan's public broadcaster NHK. The quake hit the Kumamoto prefecture on Kyushu island at 16:27 local time (07:27 GMT) on Tuesday, with hundreds of thousands of people being told to move to evacuation shelters.

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Dated changes to this report are shown here as they are published.

Version 2updated
Tuesday, July 28, 2026 at 4:08 PM UTC
Japan is reeling from a major 7.1 earthquake that hit Kyushu island.. Here is what we know so far.
Version 4updated
Tuesday, July 28, 2026 at 4:47 PM UTC
Japan is reeling from the latest major earthquake to hit the country.. Many people are trapped inside an Aeon Mall shopping centre after the magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit Kyushu island, the fire service says.. The quake has also caused power cuts, damaged roads, collapsed a castle wall and destroyed a footbridge.. Information is still coming out of Japan but here is what we know so far.
Version 7updated
Tuesday, July 28, 2026 at 5:03 PM UTC
Japan is reeling from the latest major earthquake to hit the country. Many people are trapped inside an Aeon Mall shopping centre after the magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit Kyushu island, the fire service says. The quake has also caused power cuts, damaged roads, collapsed a castle wall and destroyed a footbridge. Information is still coming out of Japan but here is what we know so far.
Version 9updated
Tuesday, July 28, 2026 at 5:47 PM UTC
Japan is reeling from the latest major earthquake to hit the country. Nineteen people are missing at an Aeon shopping centre and a paper factory after the 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit Kyushu island, an official said. The quake has also caused power cuts, damaged roads, collapsed a castle wall and destroyed a footbridge. Information is still coming out of Japan but here is what we know so far.
Version 10unpublished
Tuesday, July 28, 2026 at 8:05 PM UTC
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