"Earthquake" Triggers Another Midnight Alert... Hit by Intensity 7, Suffering from Heatwave and Water Outages

[Anchor]

Three days after the strong earthquakes struck, aftershocks are continuing in Kumamoto. Let's connect directly to the scene.

Correspondent Mun Junmo, there was a fairly strong aftershock last night (the 29th), are you okay?

[Reporter]

Yes, a magnitude 5.8 aftershock occurred at 10:19 PM last night.

At that time, our reporting team was at a restaurant here in downtown Kumamoto.

Earthquake alarms blared loudly along with the shaking.

Large and small tremors continued at intervals of two to three hours until this morning.

I am standing in front of the 400-year-old Kumamoto Castle wall, which collapsed on the first day of the earthquake.

It was undergoing restoration due to earthquake damage from 10 years ago, but it has been damaged once again.

We are currently investigating the damaged areas, and they reportedly plan to redraw the entire restoration plan.

[Anchor]

Correspondent Mun, you also visited a village that suffered earthquake damage, right?

[Reporter]

Yes, I visited a village called Hikawa, which was hit by the maximum intensity level of 7.

Let's take a look together.

The ground suddenly shakes, and a large piece of farming equipment that was standing still falls over.

This footage was filmed in Hikawa village the day before yesterday.

Toppled utility poles are left blocking the road, and the railroad tracks are bent like taffy.

Houses have collapsed, leaving their roofs slumped down onto the ground.

Old houses are almost all severely damaged.

As you can see here, this wooden house has completely collapsed.

Due to the impact at the time, household items used inside, such as rice cookers, tableware, chairs, and cabinets, can be seen flung out into the open.

It is even more painful amid a heatwave exceeding 35°C (95°F) with the electricity cut off.

[Sawada / Hikawa Resident: The weather is so hot and the temperatures are high, so I'm worried about heatstroke, but the hardest part is not being able to use the air conditioner.]

With school gymnasiums normally used as shelters also damaged, residents are pitching tents in yards or sleeping in their cars.

However, because it is difficult to obtain gasoline, they cannot even turn on their car air conditioners.

[Yamano / Hikawa Resident: There are many gas stations that can't operate because the power is out. At the ones that are open, people crowd in and wait in line for hours only to find out the fuel has run out in vain.]

Indeed, many gas stations were closed, and long lines formed at the ones that remained open.

Counting them, there were over 40 cars, and even then, drivers could only refuel up to 20 liters at a time.

Water outages are also a problem.

With no drinking or washing water, they rely on water distributed by the Self-Defense Forces, which falls far short of demand.

[Masuzumi / Hikawa Resident: It's 5 liters per person, 10 liters for a couple, which runs out right away.]

Many convenience stores are also closed due to power and water outages, making it difficult to obtain daily necessities.

With the risk of aftershocks delaying facility restoration work, residents' suffering is expected to grow for the time being.

(Camera Reporter: Han Chul-min, Moon Hyun-jin | Video Editor: Chae Chul-ho)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.