A shopping centre has collapsed leaving a ‘considerable number’ of people dead, after a strong 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit southern Japan on Tuesday.

Japanese police previously said they had received reports of what sounded like an explosion at the Aeon Mall outlet in Kumamoto.

Emergency services said that ‘many people’ were trapped inside the centre, which was severely damaged as a result of the quake.

The tremor measured at the highest possible level seven on Japan’s own Shindo scale of shaking.

The Japanese government issued emergency earthquake warnings for Kumamoto, Nagasaki, Kagoshima, Fukuoka, Saga, Oita, and Miyazaki prefectures, all on Japan’s southern Kyushu island.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi earlier said that several injuries, collapsed buildings and fires had been reported.

‘We are still assessing the extent of injuries and property damage, but I have been informed that there have already been several injuries,’ Takaichi said.

‘Power outages and fires are happening in some areas, and roads and bridges have been damaged and buildings collapsed,’ she said. 

An aerial view shows the damaged Aeon Mall shopping centre after an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.1 struck Japan’s southern Kumamoto prefecture

The shopping centre collapsed, leaving a ‘considerable number’ of people dead

The tremor measured at the highest possible level seven on Japan’s own Shindo scale of shaking

The exterior wall of a restaurant collapsed following the earthquake

An aerial view shows a collapsed part of Kumamoto Castle’s stone walls after an earthquake

One hospital had reported more than 50 injuries, public broadcaster NHK said. Several people on a high-speed train at the time of the quake were also injured, Nikkei newspaper said. 

Large cracks appeared on major roads, including an elevated highway, and a goods train derailed, according to NHK, while rail services were halted and flights grounded. 

TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, evacuated workers from its plant in the area as a precaution, a spokesperson for the firm said. 

Sony and Fujifilm also evacuated staff from their plants in the area, Nikkei newspaper reported. 

A Sony spokesperson earlier said it was checking the situation. More than 150,000 people have been instructed to go to evacuation centers, the disaster management agency said.

Residents in the areas that felt the biggest tremors must beware of further strong quakes for about a week as well as the risk of landslides, said an official for the Japan Meteorological Agency

Residents in coastal areas have been urged to move to higher ground and follow official evacuation instructions after a tsunami alert was put in place.

A tsunami alert of a wave of up to one metre was activated after the quake, warning it could arrive at around 5pm local time.

Broadcaster NHK said that waves of up to that level may already have been recorded.

The stone walls of the ancient Kumamoto Castle collapsed due to the earthquake. 

No immediate abnormalities were recorded at nuclear power plants, the Nuclear Regulation Authority said.

About 45,000 households and facilities have no power in the Kumamoto region, according to local utility Kyushu Electric Power.

The firm added that three nuclear reactors operating at the time in the region were continuing their normal operations.

Railway company JR Kyushu said that it had suspended services, including its high-speed bullet trains. 

Kumamoto airport also shut its runway, as airlines diverted and canceled flights.

Telecoms operators KDDI and Docomo said there was disruption to their mobile phone services due to power shortages and transmission-line failures. 

Toppled shelving after an earthquake, with a preliminary magnitude of 7.1, struck Japan’s southern Kumamoto prefecture

Bottles of wines are scattered after the magnitude 7.1 strong earthquake hit the region

People stand outside JR Kumamoto Station after the magnitude 7.1 strong earthquake

Damage in an arcade after the 7.1 magnitude earthquake in Japan

Reporters watch the news showing a large quake and possible one meter tsunami wave in Southern Japan

Around half an hour after the quake, a local NHK staffer wearing a helmet reported live on air that the shaking was continuing, with the newsroom shaking so violently it was difficult to remain standing.

‘Shaking is continuing as I speak. Including myself, there may be some people who feel their hearts racing,’ he said.

‘When the quake struck, the shaking was so big that I could not stand up. Please be aware of possibility that shaking might continue after this.’

A quake with a magnitude of 7.2 hit northern Japan on June 25 but caused no deaths or major damage.

Japan is one of the world’s most seismically active countries, sitting on top of four major tectonic plates along the western edge of the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’.

The archipelago, home to around 125 million people, typically experiences hundreds of jolts every year and accounts for about 18 percent of the world’s earthquakes.

The vast majority are mild, although the damage they cause varies according to their location and the depth below the Earth’s surface at which they strike.

It is haunted by the memory of a massive 9.0-magnitude undersea quake in 2011, which triggered a tsunami that killed or left missing around 18,500 people and wrecked the Fukushima nuclear plant.

On April 20 this year, a tremor measuring 7.7 hit the country’s north, injuring at least 10 people and shaking large buildings in Tokyo.

This prompted authorities to issue a special advisory warning of an increased risk of earthquakes of magnitude 8.0 or stronger. The advisory was lifted after a week.