Kumamoto Earthquake: “The Scorching Disaster Area” [On-the-Ground Report]… People Continue to Sleep in Their Cars Amid Water and Power Outages, While Aid Efforts Fall Far Short

Amid a heatwave that saw temperatures exceed 40 degrees—the highest on record—there were also fatalities due to heatstroke.

On July 30, two days after the earthquake struck, a FRIDAY reporter landed at Kumamoto Airport and drove to Hikawa Town, which had been hit by a violent quake measuring a maximum seismic intensity of 7.In the town, more than 3,000 households—equivalent to 70 percent of all households—were without water or electricity. Upon visiting the town hall, the reporter found it in the midst of receiving support from Self-Defense Forces water supply trucks.

At 2:00 p.m., the thermometer in my hand read over 35 degrees, and under the intense sunlight, sweat poured from my body just from standing there. My skin, exposed to direct sunlight, turned bright red and began to throb as if I had a burn.Regretting that I hadn’t bought a straw hat at the airport, I spoke to people visiting the water distribution point. A man in his 60s who had just finished filling his container made no attempt to hide his anxiety.

“Even when I sweat, there’s no water to wash my face. I can’t even do laundry. I hear there’s no timeline for restoration yet. I feel like my life is in danger.”

At the water distribution station, several female students who appeared to be middle schoolers were helping distribute drinking water andアルファ化米. Although they, too, were living in evacuation shelters, they said they were participating voluntarily because “we who are able to move around need to think about what we can do and just do it.” I was deeply moved by the sight of them taking the lead in relief efforts amid the sweltering heat.

In the evening, I entered Yatsushiro City, where 20 people had lost their lives. Even after the sun set, the temperature didn’t drop much. While the piercing sunlight had subsided, the humidity exceeded 60 percent, and the sticky heat clung to my body as if I were in a steam sauna.

As we parked our car in the Yatsushiro City Hall parking lot and held a meeting, I sensed a faint sense of unease. As the night deepened, more and more cars kept arriving. The parking lot, which can hold over 300 vehicles, was less than half full before 8:00 p.m., but by around midnight, it was about 80 percent full.

Ten portable toilets had been set up on the premises, and citizens were gathering there to spend the night in their cars. Some families had even gone so far as to rent cars specifically for this purpose.

Why did they choose to sleep in their cars? A man in his 50s, who had arrived with his wife in a Suzuki Solio, explained the reason.

“When the earthquake struck Kumamoto 10 years ago, there was a series of aftershocks measuring around seismic intensity 5 to 6. I’m afraid the aftershocks might cause my house to collapse, so I can’t sleep peacefully at home.”

In fact, aftershocks continued that night as well. The reporter felt at least five of them. Even small earthquakes cause cars to shake violently. Woken up each time, it was impossible to get a good night’s sleep.

As dawn broke, the scorching sun illuminated the raw scars left by the earthquake.At Yatsushiro-no-Miya, located on the grounds of the nationally designated historic site of Yatsushiro Castle, the main worship hall was completely destroyed. On “Ueyanagi Bridge,” which spans a local road, the sidewalk had collapsed, and on the road near the Yatsushiro Interchange, there were spots where fault lines jutted out of the ground.Standing before these massive scars of crustal movement—perhaps more than 2 meters high, and beyond human control—I felt a chill run down my spine.

Even if They Arrive the Day After the Earthquake, They Can’t Be Used… Why Government-Provided Air Conditioners Are Inoperable

While government relief supplies continue to arrive in droves, challenges remain when it comes to the crucial issue of heat relief.Defense Minister Shinjirō Koizumi (45) boasted that 300 air conditioners were shipped to Kumamoto the day after the earthquake, but there is a mismatch with the local power supply situation. A woman living in an evacuation center in Uki City—where a maximum seismic intensity of 7 was recorded—shares her experience.

“Thanks to the lessons learned from the earthquake 10 years ago, we have sufficient stockpiles of daily necessities and food, so I don’t feel much inconvenience. But… it’s hot. It’s just so hot… The government provided 12 ‘spot coolers’—portable cooling units on casters—but they consume so much power that we can’t run them all at full capacity.

I heard that several air conditioners were also delivered to the evacuation center at Onobeta Elementary School in the city, but apparently there isn’t a power source strong enough to run them, so they’re just sitting there unused.”

We also visited Aeon Mall Kumamoto, where the explosion occurred, and Kumamoto Castle—but the intense heat took its toll on our reporting team. On the third day of our coverage, the cameraman traveling with us suffered from dehydration, and we were forced to cut the assignment short.

On August 3, the prefecture recorded its first-ever “extreme heat day” with a maximum temperature exceeding 40 degrees Celsius.The disaster-stricken area is facing the double blow of the earthquake and this historic heatwave, including the death of a woman in her 70s who was sleeping in her car and is suspected to have died from dehydration. To prevent any further casualties, truly appropriate and prompt assistance is urgently needed.

From the August 21–28, 2026, combined issue of *FRIDAY*