Magnitude 6.8 Earthquake Hits Kumamoto, Japan: 38 Dead, 368 Injured, Maximum Intensity 7
A strong earthquake struck the Kumamoto region of Kyushu, Japan, at 16:27 local time on July 28, 2026. The U.S. Geological Survey measured it at Mw 6.8 with a depth of 8 kilometers (event us6000tgb9), while the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) measured M7.1 and recorded a maximum seismic intensity of 7 in Uki City and Hikawa Town, Kumamoto Prefecture. The JMA officially named the event the 2026 Kumamoto earthquake (Reiwa 8). This report is archived on the date of the event, with casualty figures taken from the final official tallies compiled afterward.
According to Japan's Cabinet Office summary issued on August 27, the earthquake killed 38 people and injured 368, damaged 31,798 homes, and at its peak drove 9,931 people into as many as 506 evacuation shelters. The Fire and Disaster Management Agency's 30th report, on August 2, had already confirmed 38 deaths and no one missing, with the largest number of fatalities in Yatsushiro City. Stone walls of Kumamoto Castle collapsed, and fires, water and power outages, and transport disruption were reported across Kyushu.
It was the first intensity-7 earthquake to strike Kumamoto Prefecture since the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes. The USGS PAGER system issued a red alert for the event, indicating significant estimated economic losses, and hundreds of felt aftershocks were recorded in the weeks that followed.
Source: U.S. Geological Survey
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：2026年熊本县熊本市熊本城西出丸石墙在本次地震中坍塌，本次地震的实景照片。Katorisi 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Stone walls of the Nishi-demaru of Kumamoto Castle in Kumamoto City, collapsed in this earthquake (photo from this event). Katorisi, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
