Earthquake in Japan
On 28 July 2026 at 16:27 JST (07:27 UTC), a major magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, generating a maximum seismic intensity of 7 on the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) scale. The powerful ground shaking caused casualties, extensive damage to homes, commercial buildings, and public infrastructure, and triggered numerous aftershocks.
Roads and bridges were damaged, transportation networks—including Shinkansen and conventional rail services—were disrupted, and power outages affected tens of thousands of households. The earthquake also caused significant disruption to daily life across the affected region.
Authorities issued evacuation orders for hundreds of thousands of residents due to the continuing aftershocks and the risk of landslides. Emergency response teams, including the Japan Self-Defense Forces, were deployed to conduct search-and-rescue operations and provide assistance to affected communities.
Related Resources
Sentinel Asia - Earthquake in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan
- Type of event
- Earthquake
- Location of event
- Japan
- Date of Charter Activation
- 2026-07-28
- Time of Charter Activation
- 14:53
- Time zone of Charter Activation
- UTC+09:00
- Charter Requestor
- ADRC
- Activation ID
- 1046
- Project Management
- Masahiko Nagai (Yamaguchi University)
- Value Adding
- JAXA,
- Chubu University,
- Hiroshima Institute of Technology,
- Kagawa University,
- Yuzo SUGA (Hiroshima Institute of Technology),
- Wen Liu (Chiba University),
- Satoshi TAKEWAKA (University of Tsukuba),
- Kohki ITOH (JAXA),
- Institute of Science Tokyo,
- Kyushu University,
- Yamaguchi University,
- Miyagi University,
- Copernicus EMS,
- Tsuyoshi Eguchi (Yamaguchi University),
- University of Tokyo