The Aeon mall had reopened just last month after being rebuilt following the deadly 2016 Kumamoto earthquake, but was destroyed again in Tuesday's earthquake in Japan.
An aerial view shows rescue workers conducting a search and rescue operation at the damaged Aeon Mall shopping centre, in Kashima Town, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, Jul 28, 2026. (Photo: REUTERS/Kyod)
29 Jul 2026 02:01AM
TOKYO: The Aeon mall destroyed in a post-quake explosion in southern Japan on Tuesday (Jul 28) had just reopened last month as a new and improved shopping and entertainment complex to commemorate its recovery from a deadly tremor a decade ago.The mall was so badly damaged in the magnitude 7.3 Kumamoto earthquake in April 2016 that it had to close for months and rebuild over even longer periods. As it went through a 2017 redevelopment and expansion, the mall highlighted its seismically reinforced ceilings and overall improvements to safety and resilience.With the opening of Taiwan chipmaker TSMC's 2330.TW factory in Kumamoto in 2024, visitors to the Aeon mall had topped 8 million people a year. It housed some 200 stores and businesses and a cinema, and it had room for 5,000 cars in its parking lot.On Tuesday, much of the sprawling site was reduced to a skeleton and rubble. Many were feared dead or trapped inside, according to NHK and other Japanese broadcasters, and Kumamoto police said the danger of aftershocks made it impossible to start search and rescue work in the compromised structure. The epicentre of the quake was only a few miles away.
