12 minutes agoSome people remain trapped inside a shopping mall in Japan after the earthquake
Periskopi(an hour ago)
(an hour ago)Some people are trapped inside a mall that was damaged by a major earthquake in southwestern Japan today, emergency services said.
In the “city of Kasima, the second floor of a commercial complex collapsed, leaving many people trapped inside”, the local fire department said in a statement, reports The Guardian, broadcast Periscope.
Earlier, police said they had received reports of what seemed like an explosion at the Aeon Mall trading point in the Cumamoto region, but were unable to provide additional information on damage or victims.
Reports come after a 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck southern Japan.
According to Japan's Meteorological Agency (JMA), the earthquake had a depth of 10km and hit the country's Cumamoto Prefecture at 4:27 p.m. (8:27am BST).
The agency said the quakes were measured at the highest possible level of seven on Japan's Shindo scale. While the agency initially issued a tsunami warning for a three-foot wave, it has since cancelled it.
In 2016, Cumamoto was struck by two devastating earthquakes, one with a magnitude of 6.5, followed by another of 7.3 days.
