Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Monday, 4 August 2025, visited Kumamoto Prefecture in southwestern Japan to assess the scale of destruction left by a 7.1-magnitude earthquake that struck the region on 28 July, killing at least 16 people and triggering a tsunami warning. The visit signals Tokyo's intent to mobilise federal resources as the death toll and displacement figures continue to rise.

What Takaichi Saw on the Ground

Takaichi visited an evacuation shelter in the town of Hikawa, wearing a disaster response uniform, and met residents displaced by the quake. 'The government will do everything that it can do,' she told those affected, according to local media reports.

She also conducted an aerial survey by helicopter over the Aeon shopping mall in the town of Kashima, where an explosion following the quake killed seven people. She separately observed the paper plant in Yatsushiro, where nine people died. Aerial footage broadcast by public broadcaster NHK on 28 July showed severe structural damage — sections of the mall's exterior wall had peeled away exposing steel framework, part of the roof had collapsed, and a large hole was visible on the rooftop.

Scale and Severity of the Earthquake

According to Japan's Meteorological Agency, the earthquake struck Kumamoto Prefecture at a depth of 10 kilometres at 4:27 pm local time on 28 July. The cities of Uki and Hikawa were the hardest hit, registering the maximum seismic intensity level of 7 on Japan's scale — a threshold at which, the agency notes, people cannot remain standing or move without crawling and may be thrown through the air.

A tsunami warning of one metre was also issued for the Ariake Sea and Yatsushiro Sea in southwestern Japan following the quake.

Government Response and Relief Measures

Takaichi's administration has been actively promoting secondary evacuations to lodging facilities and bolstering support for residents sleeping in cars or sheltering in their own homes, according to government officials. The government is also reportedly considering drawing on the fiscal 2026 budget's reserve funds, which total approximately 1 trillion yen (around $6.4 billion), to finance relief and reconstruction efforts.

During her visit, Takaichi discussed mounting concerns over heatstroke and disaster-related deaths at evacuation sites with local authorities, as temperatures in parts of the prefecture reached 40°C.

What Comes Next

The combination of extreme heat, ongoing aftershock risk, and inadequate shelter conditions at evacuation sites poses a compounding humanitarian challenge. With the government weighing a draw-down of reserve funds, the pace of secondary evacuations and the adequacy of cooling facilities at shelters will be closely watched in the days ahead.