A major quake in Kumamoto emptied the TSMC, Sony and Tokyo Electron plants, and TSMC says its Japan fab is already restarting

An earthquake hit Kumamoto prefecture on Kyushu, Japan's southern main island, at 4:27 p.m. local time on Tuesday, which was 3:27 a.m. Eastern.

The Japan Meteorological Agency put the preliminary magnitude at 7.1 and recorded a maximum seismic intensity of 7, the top of its shindo scale, which measures shaking at a location rather than the energy of the quake itself. The US Geological Survey's reviewed figure is a moment magnitude of 6.8 at a depth of 10 kilometres, catalogued as the 2026 Uto earthquake. The two numbers are not a contradiction; the agencies use different magnitude scales and Japan's initial readings are issued within minutes. The epicentre was about 20 kilometres, or 12 miles, south of Kumamoto city, which has a population of around 700,000.

Around 300,000 people were instructed to go to evacuation centres and hundreds of soldiers were deployed for rescue work, Reuters reported. A tsunami advisory was issued and then lifted, and no tsunami was observed.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, speaking to reporters in Tokyo, said authorities were still assessing the extent of the damage. "We have already been informed that people have been injured. Power outages and fires have occurred in some areas, and there has also been damage to roads and bridges and the collapse of buildings," she said. "I ask everyone to take action to protect themselves, including evacuating to a safe location."

What happened at the Aeon Mall

The most serious single incident was at the prefecture's largest shopping mall, in Kashima Town, where an explosion followed the earthquake. Around 20 to 30 workers were unaccounted for afterwards, NHK reported. Local news outlets quoted police saying several people had died or were presumed to have died, and Reuters said it could not immediately confirm those reports.

A spokesperson for Aeon, the mall operator, said customers and employees were evacuated right after the initial quake and that the exact cause of the explosion was unclear. Authorities are investigating a possible gas explosion, the broadcaster NTV reported. One side of the mall, which houses around 200 stores, was torn away, exposing steel beams and scattering debris across the parking lot, footage showed.

Elsewhere, multiple people were unaccounted for after a chimney collapsed at a Nippon Paper Industries factory, NHK reported. Two hospitals were each treating more than 50 people, some in serious condition. One person died in a building collapse in a town near the epicentre, TV Asahi reported. Several passengers on high-speed trains were injured.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said residents in the areas that felt the strongest shaking should stay alert for further strong quakes for about a week, and for landslides. Around 100 small aftershocks had already been recorded.

The industrial shutdown

Kumamoto is not an incidental location for this. It is the centre of Japan's effort to rebuild domestic semiconductor manufacturing, and several of the largest plants there stopped at once. The list below is what has been reported so far rather than a complete accounting of the prefecture.

TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, along with Sony and Fujifilm, evacuated workers from their plants. Tokyo Electron, which makes semiconductor production equipment, said it was suspending operations at its two factories in Kumamoto through Wednesday. Honda said it would temporarily idle its motorcycle factory in the prefecture.

TSMC gave the fullest account. The company said it had begun gradually resuming operations at its Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing plant after the quake prompted a precautionary evacuation, and that all personnel at the site were confirmed safe after being evacuated under internal safety procedures.

"Post-earthquake structural inspections have been completed, confirming that the structures are safe and operations are gradually resuming. Detailed inspections and impact assessments are ongoing," the company said in an emailed statement reported by Reuters.

TSMC said JASM's construction site was unaffected, and added that parts of the construction work had been suspended as a safety precaution because of the possibility of further aftershocks. Earlier, the company said it had evacuated employees after the quake met its evacuation criteria, that employee safety was its top priority, and that all personnel inside and outside the facility had been accounted for. The plant's location in Kikuyo Town recorded an intensity of upper 5, well below the maximum 7 registered elsewhere in the prefecture.

Roads were badly damaged, with large cracks in major highways. Rail services were suspended and flights were grounded.