Shafaqna English– A powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake rocked southern Japan, causing widespread structural damage in the small city of Yatsushiro. Homes collapsed and roads were torn apart by the violent shaking.
However, for Akio Matsushita, a local official, the most pressing concern is not the visible destruction but the silent, creeping dangers posed by the loss of water and electricity—especially as the region swelters under intense summer heat.
The humanitarian crisis in Yatsushiro deepened on Thursday as the city entered its second day without basic utilities. Two days after the quake in Kumamoto prefecture left at least 17 dead, nearly all of the city’s 58,000 households remained without running water and electricity.
Akio Matsushita, a senior official overseeing relief efforts, expressed deep uncertainty about the road ahead, stating that the damage to water mains was so extensive that he could not estimate whether repairs would be completed in days, weeks, or months.