Japan quake survivors battle heat and water shortage in Kumamoto

Tokyo,UPDATED: Aug 3, 2026 14:50 IST

Residents in Japan's quake-hit Kumamoto prefecture cleared debris from damaged homes and buildings on Monday as the region faced intense heat, water shortages and crowded shelters. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi also made her first brief visit since a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck the prefecture on Kyushu last Tuesday.

The earthquake has left 38 people dead and 114 injured, authorities said. The dead include one person who apparently suffered heat stroke while sheltering in a car in the hot weather, while the cause of death of another person is still being investigated.

Across the affected areas, residents put out heaps of debris, broken furniture and damaged appliances for collection. In the towns of Uki and Hikawa, work began on temporary housing for those displaced by the quake.

More than 46,000 households were still without water, and many were also facing fuel shortages as temperatures were expected to climb close to 40 degrees Celsius on Monday, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. The heat has raised fears of heat-related illness in the badly damaged region.

More than 8,500 people remain in emergency shelters, including converted community centres, school gyms and classrooms, many of which do not have air-conditioning. Others have been sleeping in cars in town hall car parks and parks, or outside their homes. Experts have long warned that poor shelter arrangements can lead to overcrowding and a lack of sanitation and privacy for people forced from their homes after disasters.

Takaichi visited one of the area's best-equipped shelters, where evacuees had cardboard beds, partitions and air-conditioning. The visit drew criticism on social media, with some saying it did not reflect the conditions many survivors were facing.

Meanwhile, a company that ran a general store in a collapsed shopping mall acknowledged that it had told two employees, who were later killed in an explosion, to return to the building to put sales proceeds into a safe. Two executives of Habita, which operated a shop inside the collapsed Aeon Mall in the town of Kashima, attended the wake on Sunday of one of the victims, 22-year-old Kurumi Otake, and apologised to her parents.

Company sales manager Goji Yuse said the company had instructed the two employees to put the sales proceeds into the safe if it was possible. "I wish someone had stopped her," Otake's tearful mother told them. "My daughter is not coming back." The mall's operator said it believes the explosion was caused by a gas leak and happened after about 3,000 shoppers had been evacuated to a car park following the quake, though some employees remained inside. Rescuers recovered five survivors and the bodies of seven others from the mall.

Officials said about 700 homes were destroyed and more than 11,300 buildings were damaged in Kumamoto prefecture. As residents continue to clear rubble and wait for basic supplies and temporary housing, the earthquake's toll remains visible across the region.

With PTI Inputs

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