Key Points
- A significant earthquake has caused structural damage and disruption in Kosa Town, Kumamoto Prefecture, bringing back memories of the major 2016 disaster.
- Aeon Mall Kumamoto, a vital community hub known locally as “Claire,” sustained visible damage, impacting a primary lifeline for the town’s residents.
- Local businesses, including horse meat producers, reported damage to logistics centers and farms, with ground fissures appearing at stables.
- Despite the destruction, residents noted a sense of calm compared to previous disasters, credited to the lessons learned from Kumamoto’s seismic history.
Full Transcript (English)
Tanaka Shintaro (CEO, Ichijo no Kumo Co. / Former Reporter): Yes, as I expected, in Kosa… I was just talking to someone at Cafe NEWOLD in Kosa. For the people here, Aeon Mall Kumamoto is more than just a mall; it’s a lifeline and a spiritual pillar. I was just there recently to see a movie and use the hot springs. It’s truly shocking. My wife is currently eight months pregnant, so I’m keeping a close eye on her health as well. Aeon Mall was also damaged during the previous major earthquake, with ceilings falling and a long closure. This time feels even worse. However, my personal feeling is that there isn’t as much panic as last time. I think it’s because the memory of the Kumamoto earthquake from ten years ago is still fresh. People have learned from that experience and are staying relatively calm. When the quake hit, I was on the second floor of my house in Kosa. Before I could even catch my breath, the shaking became violent. Monitors and bookshelves fell over. Even heavy desks that usually require two or three people to move were shifting around. The impact was massive.
Woman (Cafe NEWOLD): It was so scary. We didn’t have water or power outages right here, but the neighboring Midori-machi district did. I heard they are still working on restoration there. We’ve been cleaning up since this morning. Ten years have passed since the last big one, and we never thought something of this scale would happen again. It was a total surprise. My middle child, a fifth-grader, was home alone in the kitchen when it happened. Things came crashing down, and they managed to hide in a small gap under the sink. When I got home, they were crying and hugged me tight. They must have been terrified. They couldn’t sleep last night because of the aftershocks. I want to reopen the cafe as soon as possible for our customers, but for now, we can’t say when that will be.
Woman (Resident in black shirt): The shaking was intense even up on the hill where I live. My son was actually at Aeon Mall (Claire) when it happened. I was frantic. I used a location-tracking app on my phone to check on him immediately and told him to come home right away. I heard a loud “bang” and thought it might be a military exercise at first, but then I saw the news and was shocked.
Kurasaki Kotaro (CEO, RITA Group Holdings): Our company, Rita Foods, sells Kumamoto’s specialty horse meat online. We have four main locations. Our headquarters is in Kumamoto City, and we have a processing plant in the southern district. The hardest hit was our logistics center in Uki City, which was near the epicenter. The building sustained heavy damage. We also have this partner farm where we raise the horses. At the farm, the ground has split open in several places, and some of the stalls have shifted or been damaged. We spent all night moving products from the damaged warehouse in Uki to another facility in Koshi City. I can’t thank the staff enough; they worked through the night without a wink of sleep. The horses themselves seem okay; they still have their appetites, which is a relief. However, the slaughterhouse is currently without power. If that facility stays down, we won’t be able to maintain a stable supply of horse meat. We are trying to stay positive. I tell my employees: we are victims of the disaster, but let’s not let our minds become “victim-minded.” We want to be a hub that helps Kumamoto’s economy recover.
