Multiple deaths in Japan mall collapse after 7.1-magnitude earthquake

A "considerable number" of people have died at Aeon shopping mall damaged by a major earthquake Tuesday in southwestern Japan, the TBS broadcaster reported.

Emergency services earlier said "many people" were trapped inside the building after a floor collapsed.

In "Kashima town, a shopping complex's second floor collapsed, leaving many people trapped inside," the fire department said in a statement.

Police said earlier they had received reports of what sounded like an explosion at the Aeon Mall outlet in the Kumamoto region.

An earthquake registering a preliminary magnitude of 7.1 shook Kumamoto on Japan's southern main island of Kyushu late Tuesday afternoon and a tsunami advisory was issued, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said. The quake occurred at the depth of 10 kilometres (6 miles) below the sea surface. The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no risk of a tsunami beyond local coasts and later lifted the alert.

At least 50 people were taken to hospital with injuries, the NHK broadcaster said. It also reported 12 houses had collapsed, with four cases in which people had been trapped inside.

No nuclear risk

Kyushu Electric Power said ​there were no reports of irregularities at its Sendai ​and Genkai nuclear power stations after the earthquake.

Train operator JR Kyushu said that it has suspended services, including its high-speed ⁠Shinkansen trains following the quake.

Kumamoto was hit with a deadly quake in 2016 that left more than 50 people dead, 1,800 injured and tens of thousands of homes damaged or destroyed.

Japan is ‌one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries, with a tremor occurring at least every ‌five minutes. Located along the "Ring of Fire" of volcanoes ​and oceanic trenches partly encircling the Pacific Basin, Japan accounts for about 20% of the ​world's earthquakes of magnitude 6.0 ​or more. 

(FRANCE 24 with Reuters, AFP and AP)