At least 100 people were injured as a result of a powerful earthquake in southern Japan, The Guardian reports.

Authorities reported building damage, power outages, and fires. At the Aeon Mall Kumamoto shopping center, people may be trapped under the rubble after an explosion believed to have been caused by a gas leak.

The earthquake struck on Tuesday afternoon in Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu. The tremors caused power outages in tens of thousands of homes and damaged roads, bridges, and buildings.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said authorities are continuing to assess the scale of the disaster’s impact.

“We have already received reports of injuries. In some areas, there have been power outages and fires, and there is also damage to roads, bridges, and collapsed buildings. I urge everyone to take measures for their own safety, including evacuating to safe locations,” she said.

According to Japan’s Agency for Emergency Management, about 300,000 people have been advised or ordered to evacuate to temporary shelter centers.

The Japan Meteorological Agency warned that the risk of further strong tremors and landslides will remain for a week after the earthquake. More than 60 aftershocks with magnitudes ranging from 1 to 4 were recorded after the main quake. The tsunami warning issued immediately after the earthquake was lifted about two hours later.

One person died after a house collapsed. According to NHK, two hospitals each reported more than 50 injured people, including about 10 in serious condition.

The greatest concern was caused by the incident at the Aeon Mall Kumamoto shopping center. After the earthquake, an explosion occurred there, seriously damaging part of the building. Rescue workers began searching for people under the rubble. According to local media, several dozen employees may have remained inside, and some people are believed to have died.

A representative of the shopping center said that visitors and staff were evacuated after the initial tremors, and the cause of the explosion is still being determined. Later, a government spokesperson said there may have been a gas leak in the building, but its connection to the explosion has not yet been confirmed.

Footage from the scene shows a destroyed section of the building: exterior structures were torn away, metal beams are visible, and firefighters and rescue services are working near the shopping center.

Damage was also reported at a Nippon Paper Industries plant, where a smokestack collapsed. Several people were injured on a high-speed train during the earthquake. TSMC, Sony, and Fujifilm evacuated employees from their facilities in the region.

The epicenter of the earthquake was located about 20 kilometers south of the city of Kumamoto. The Japan Meteorological Agency assessed the intensity of the tremors at 7 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale, which is the maximum level.

The region has already experienced infrastructure disruptions: about 48,000 homes were left without electricity, railway operator JR Kyushu suspended train services, including high-speed trains, and Kumamoto Airport temporarily closed its runway.

Kyushu is one of Japan’s most seismically active regions. Ten years ago, in 2016, a devastating earthquake struck Kumamoto, killing 275 people and injuring more than 2,700. At that time, tens of thousands of buildings were seriously damaged, including the historic Kumamoto Castle.