A video circulating on social media showed a road torn apart after a powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck Japan's southwestern Kyushu region on Tuesday, underscoring the extent of the damage to infrastructure caused by the tremors.
The footage, shared on X by weather-tracking account Weather Monitor, appears to show a section of the road split by a large crack, with parts of the surface displaced following the quake.
The earthquake struck near Japan's southwestern island of Kyushu earlier in the day, knocking out power to tens of thousands of homes, disrupting transport services and prompting tsunami warnings for parts of the country's southern coastline.
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Severe damage reported in Kumamoto, Japan, with major road cracks following a magnitude 7.1 earthquake.(地震 ) pic.twitter.com/tjYgsVbU0M
— Weather Monitor (@WeatherMonitors) July 28, 2026
"We have already been informed that people have been injured," Takaichi said. "Power outages and fires have occurred in some areas, and there has also been damage to roads and bridges and the collapse of buildings," Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said, reported by Reuters.
According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), the quake measured magnitude 7.1 and was centred in Kumamoto Prefecture. Authorities later lifted the tsunami warning after assessing the threat.
The road damage captured in the viral video adds to images emerging from the affected region as authorities continue to assess the full extent of the destruction caused by one of the strongest earthquakes to hit southern Japan in recent years.
The powerful tremor caused widespread disruption across the region. High-speed Shinkansen services were suspended on several routes, while flights and local transport were also affected as officials assessed infrastructure damage.
In another video shared by the same account, aerial footage from an NHK news broadcast showed extensive damage to the Kyushu Expressway, where sections of a bridge appeared to have shifted and separated at the expansion joints following the 7.1-magnitude earthquake that struck Kumamoto, Japan.
Aerial footage from an NHK news broadcast shows severe damage to the Kyushu Expressway, where bridge sections appear to have shifted and separated at the expansion joints following the magnitude 7.1 earthquake in Kumamoto, Japan.
— Weather Monitor (@WeatherMonitors) July 28, 2026
At least 50 people have been injured. pic.twitter.com/Tq3ADfOcR1
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Reuters also reported that one hospital had treated more than 50 people for injuries, citing public broadcaster NHK. Separately, the Nikkei newspaper reported that several passengers aboard a high-speed train at the time of the earthquake were also injured.
The country's disaster management agency said more than 150,000 people had been instructed to evacuate to designated shelters.
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