One Month After the Magnitude-7 Quake: Inside Kumamoto’s Sweltering Disaster Zone

No timeline for restoration

“I come here quite often. It’s always been a familiar place to me. And now it’s been reduced to this. It’s heartbreaking no matter how many times I see it.”

Yatsushiro City suffered the highest number of fatalities in Kumamoto Prefecture, with 20 people losing their lives. A local man who visited Yatsushiro Shrine lowered his head in sadness as he stood before the worship hall in its devastating condition (Photo 1). A temporary offering box had been installed, but there was reportedly no prospect whatsoever of restoring the shrine itself.

August 28 marked one month since the Kumamoto Earthquake, which recorded a maximum seismic intensity of 7. In the disaster-stricken areas, where temperatures exceeded 35°C day after day and heatstroke alerts were being issued, traces of the earthquake remained everywhere.

Walking along the municipal road known as “Kumamon Road,” about a five-minute walk from Yatsushiro Shrine, several collapsed buildings could be seen left untouched in a nearby covered shopping arcade (Photo 2). Despite it being late morning on a holiday, only a handful of shops were open and there were hardly any customers. Banners for the canceled “Yatsushiro Kumagawa Festival” fluttered forlornly, still waiting to be taken down.

The damage to homes was severe. According to an announcement by Kumamoto Prefecture, 39,567 buildings had been damaged, including 1,695 that were completely destroyed (as of August 26; same below). However, local construction companies and builders were experiencing delays in receiving materials because the Kyushu Expressway remained closed until mid-August.

Moreover, many companies themselves had suffered damage, with material warehouses collapsing and heavy machinery breaking down one after another, apparently forcing numerous businesses to suspend operations. A man in his 50s who lives in Yatsushiro City lamented:

“The roof tiles on the house where my children live were damaged, so I called the carpenter I always use, but I couldn’t get through. I’m worried about rain leaking in, so I’m planning to take a blue tarp over and cover the roof myself.”

Home improvement stores were packed with local residents coming to buy materials to repair their homes. A father in his 50s who had come with his family said:

“Even when we contact contractors, they just don’t come, so we have no choice but to do it ourselves. We came to buy lumber and cement. I also wanted to buy a plastic tank for storing water, but they were sold out.”

There was also no prospect of restoring railway services in Yatsushiro City. When the reporter visited Yatsushiro Station, a train that had made an emergency stop nearby remained exactly as it had been one month earlier. In addition, perhaps to prevent the trains from obstructing vehicle traffic, many crossing gates at railroad crossings throughout the city had been removed.

From the September 11 & 18, 2026, combined issue of “FRIDAY”