A powerful explosion occurred at Aeon Mall Kumamoto in Kashima City, Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on the evening of Tuesday, July 28, following a magnitude 7.1 earthquake the same day. The blast caused the second-floor structure to collapse, leaving many people injured and trapped inside the building. Firefighters are urgently conducting rescue operations and transporting the injured to hospitals, but the official number of casualties has not yet been disclosed. Police and fire officials received the emergency call at around 6 p.m. local time, with callers reporting a loud explosion-like sound and seeing white smoke billowing up. Aerial footage from an NHK helicopter at around 6:20 p.m. showed severe damage to the building, with exterior walls stripped away and a large hole in the collapsed roof. The Japan Meteorological Agency stated that Kashima City likely experienced shaking of at least lower 5 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale from the earthquake. The cause of the explosion is under investigation.