A powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck southwestern Japan on Tuesday, triggering a tsunami warning, knocking out power to thousands of homes, damaging roads and buildings, and leaving multiple people trapped and others presumed dead inside a partially collapsed shopping mall in Kumamoto prefecture.
The quake struck at 4:27 pm (0727 GMT) off the island of Kyushu and registered the highest possible level seven on Japan's Shindo intensity scale, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). The agency initially warned that tsunami waves of up to one metre (three feet) could reach coastal areas at around 5:00 pm (0800 GMT), but later lifted the tsunami warning.
