A volunteer firefighter, Tomohide Nagata, told the Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun: “I heard a voice coming from the collapsed house and saw a hand. One of our senior members crawled in and pulled him out. He was bleeding from the head, but I’m so glad he survived.”
Nagata heard the noise coming from a completely flattened home in the rural town of Hikawa, near the epicenter of Tuesday’s 6.8-magnitude earthquake in southern Japan. The town was one of the hardest-hit areas, with many older houses collapsing. Fearing ongoing aftershocks, many residents spent Tuesday night sleeping in their cars outside Hikawa’s town hall, where staff handed out food and drinks.
At least 13 people were killed and hundreds injured when the earthquake struck the island of Kyushu. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Wednesday: “There are people still waiting to be rescued, and it’s a race against time. We will do everything we can to find and rescue as many people as possible.”
According to the Mainichi Shimbun, Iwaoka Shigemi, 79, and his wife Michiyo, 77, escaped from their house and spent the night sleeping in their car in Hikawa. With temperatures expected to reach 35°C on Wednesday, they were now worried about the risk of heatstroke.
Suemi Nagata, 79, couldn’t leave Hikawa by car because her garage was destroyed, but she made it to the town hall with her husband and older sister. “The sideways shaking was worse than the Kumamoto earthquake 10 years ago, and it was terrifying,” she told the local newspaper. “Just surviving with my life is something to be grateful for.”
In April, Kumamoto prefecture marked the 10th anniversary of the 2016 earthquake, which killed over 275 people and caused widespread destruction. In that case, a 6.2-magnitude foreshock was followed two days later by a deadly 7-magnitude quake—something that will be on the minds of tens of thousands across Kumamoto in the coming week.
At the Kumamoto Aeon mall, which was severely damaged by what is believed to be a gas explosion triggered by the earthquake, several employees went back inside after evacuating customers and were caught in the blast.
A 16-year-old girl who escaped with other shoppers just before the explosion told the Asahi Shimbun she “felt completely safe once she was outside,” only to struggle to breathe from the dust and smoke.
A 74-year-old man who often shopped at the mall told the Nikkei newspaper that he had just learned an acquaintance who worked there was injured. “I could have been caught up in it myself,” he said.
Initially, up to 30 employees were reported trapped inside, and four remain missing.
In nearby Uki City, which also experienced shaking at the maximum level 7 on the Japanese shindo scale, residents shared stories of lucky escapes and heartbreaking failed rescue efforts.
A woman in her 40s managed to get to an evacuation shelter with three generations of her family after putting herself between falling furniture and her children. “I was pinned under a chest of drawers at home. I protected my children and then hurried to evacuate,” she told the Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun from Toyono elementary school, which was being used as an evacuation shelter after the ceiling of the local disaster facility collapsed.
On Tuesday evening, as neighbors and relatives tried to check on each other, residents in the Asakawa district of Uki found one house flattened, with roof tiles scattered on the ground where it once stood. As family members looked on…Later on, a few volunteer firefighters tried to rescue an elderly man who was trapped inside.
“That man is a childhood friend of mine,” said the visibly shaken 70-year-old head of the local district to the Kumamoto newspaper. “We tried to pull him out, but the aftershocks kept coming, so we had no choice but to give up.”
Like in Hikawa, many residents of Uki slept in their cars, and local government workers handed out water and food. Since the damaged disaster facility couldn’t be used, the city set up a temporary response headquarters in a parking lot.
In Yatsushiro, south of Hikawa, one man’s life may have been saved by his schedule when his workplace—a single-story wooden building—collapsed. “It was my day off, and I wasn’t at work, so I survived,” said the 63-year-old self-employed man, who spent the night in a tent set up in his garden. “But I have no idea what I’ll do starting tomorrow.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Here is a list of frequently asked questions about the stories of survival and loss emerging after the Japan earthquake based on the phrase The shaking was terrifying
BeginnerLevel Questions
Q What does the shaking was terrifying mean in these stories
A Its a direct quote from survivors describing the violent uncontrollable movement of the ground during the earthquake It highlights the intense fear and panic people felt in the moment
Q What kind of stories are coming out after the earthquake
A Two main types stories of survival and stories of loss
Q Why are these stories important to share
A They help the world understand the real human impact of the disaster beyond just numbers They also preserve history and can teach others how to prepare or react in similar emergencies
Q How did people describe the earthquake experience
A Many said it felt like the ground was rolling like waves or shaking like a washing machine The noise was described as a deep roar and the shaking made it impossible to stand or walk
Q Did everyone survive
A No Unfortunately many people lost their lives The stories also include accounts of families searching for missing loved ones and grieving those who didnt make it
IntermediateLevel Questions
Q What are common survival stories from this earthquake
A Common ones include people huddling under sturdy tables families escaping through broken windows and neighbors digging through rubble with bare hands to reach trapped people Some survived by running to higher ground before a tsunami hit
Q What are the most heartbreaking loss stories
A Stories of parents losing children elderly relatives trapped in collapsed homes and entire neighborhoods being washed away by the tsunami Some survivors talk about losing everything they owned in seconds
Q How did the earthquake affect peoples mental health
A Many survivors describe ongoing anxiety nightmares and a fear of aftershocks The memory of the shaking triggers panic attacks Grief and survivors guilt are also very common
Q What practical tips do survivors give for future earthquakes
