A major magnitude 7.1 earthquake has struck Japan's Kyushu island, with many people reported trapped inside an Aeon Mall shopping centre in Kumamoto prefecture, according to the fire service. The quake hit at 16:27 local time (07:27 GMT) on Tuesday, leading to approximately 300,000 people being advised to move to evacuation shelters.
Japan's public broadcaster NHK reports police saying that contact has been lost with 20 to 30 employees at the Aeon Mall. A witness described seeing an explosion and smoke, with the second floor of the building collapsing and some shoppers taken to hospital. The fire and disaster management agency later confirmed the collapse of the second floor of a "commercial facility" with many people trapped.
Elsewhere in Kumamoto prefecture, police cited by NHK report people missing at a paper factory after a chimney collapsed. An aerial photograph obtained by Reuters news agency reportedly shows a broken chimney at the Nippon Paper Industries Yatsushiro Plant. Historic walls at the 17th-century Kumamoto castle also tumbled, and a footbridge collapsed in the region. Over 40,000 households are without power, and more than 60 aftershocks have been recorded.