Japan Quake: TBS Reports Mall Deaths, Police Can't Confirm

Broadcaster TBS reported Tuesday that a "considerable number" of people had died at a shopping mall damaged by a major earthquake in southwestern Japan, while police told AFP they could not confirm whether there were any fatalities at the mall in Kashima.

Emergency services had earlier said many people were trapped inside the building after a floor collapsed. Police had said they received reports of a sound like an explosion at the Aeon Mall outlet in the Kumamoto region.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the quake struck at 4:27 pm local time, measured magnitude 7.1 and reached level seven, the highest reading on Japan's Shindo shaking scale. The US Geological Survey measured the quake at 6.8.

NHK had reported that at least 50 people were taken to hospital and that at least 12 houses collapsed. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said authorities had been told of several injuries, collapsed buildings, fires, power outages and damage to roads, bridges and buildings.

The meteorological agency initially issued a tsunami alert but withdrew it at around 6:10 pm after saying the quake occurred inland and no tsunami activity had been observed.

Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority said no immediate abnormalities had been recorded at nuclear power plants. Kyushu Electric Power said about 45,000 households and facilities had no power in the Kumamoto region and that three operating nuclear reactors in the region were functioning normally.