A house burns following a magnitude-7.1 earthquake in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan, on Tuesday. [Reuters]
A house burns following a magnitude-7.1 earthquake in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan, on Tuesday. [Reuters]

A magnitude-7.1 earthquake struck Kumamoto in Japan's Kyushu region on Tuesday afternoon, sending residents into a panic and reviving memories of a 2016 quake that killed more than 270 people.

Roads buckled and stone walls collapsed in Uki and Hikawa-machi in Kumamoto Prefecture, Kyodo News and other local outlets reported.

The violent shaking prompted residents who had lived through the 2016 earthquake to say they were reminded of that disaster, with some saying they could not even stand upright.

An 89-year-old man in Uki said the ground shook side to side and up and down for about 10 to 20 seconds. "It was worse than the Kumamoto earthquake 10 years ago," he said.

A staff member at a nursing home in Hikawa-machi said she could not keep her balance even while gripping a desk. "Both residents and staff fell and were injured," she said.

A damaged expressway following a magnitude-7.1 earthquake in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan, on Tuesday. [Reuters]
A damaged expressway following a magnitude-7.1 earthquake in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan, on Tuesday. [Reuters]

Kai Yozo, a priest at Tsumori Shrine in Mashiki-machi, Kumamoto Prefecture, who said his shrine was also damaged in the 2016 quake, said he feared the main hall or gate might have tilted again. Two stone lanterns at the shrine toppled in Tuesday's earthquake.

At a ryokan in Kamiamakusa, Kumamoto Prefecture, bottles of alcohol and tableware crashed to the floor, and water flooded the premises amid concerns of a broken water pipe. A representative said cancellations were already coming in. "We had just entered the peak season," the representative said.

The earthquake halted shinkansen and other train services, leaving some passengers stranded, local media reported.

A man from Kumamoto said at Hakata Station in Fukuoka that he had visited the city and planned to return home Tuesday but decided to wait.

Rescue workers search for survivors at a collapsed shopping mall following a magnitude-7.1 earthquake in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan, on Tuesday. [Reuters]
Rescue workers search for survivors at a collapsed shopping mall following a magnitude-7.1 earthquake in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan, on Tuesday. [Reuters]

With residents saying the shaking felt stronger than in 2016, concerns are growing that Tuesday's earthquake could cause damage rivaling the 2016 disaster.

The magnitude-7.3 earthquake that struck Kumamoto on April 16, 2016, killed more than 270 people. Of those, 50 died from building collapses and other direct causes, while the rest died during evacuation.

That quake destroyed 8,667 homes and displaced up to 184,000 people.


ehkim@heraldcorp.com