Power and water outages have affected tens of thousands of buildings, leaving residents sweltering and thirsty, and fearing yet another repeat of the quake that struck 10 years ago.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said authorities were still assessing the full extent of the damage in the area, which was devastated by a deadly quake a decade ago.

Multiple people are trapped inside an Aeon shopping mall rocked by an explosion that occurred after the earthquake, which was centred around Kumamoto prefecture.

Regional officials also said that 10 people were unaccounted for at the mall.