'I thought I would die': Survivors describe the shock and horror of powerful Japan earthquake
A powerful 6.8-magnitude earthquake has struck Kumamoto, Japan, causing significant damage and trapping people in a shopping mall. Emergency services are currently engaged in a critical rescue operation as survivors recount the terrifying experience.
Why it matters
Natural disasters in seismically active regions like Japan highlight the ongoing challenges of disaster preparedness and the human cost of tectonic instability.
Image source, Reuters Image caption, The ramifications of the earthquake have been widely felt
Business was winding down for the day at Sendan Shokudo, a diner in Japan's southwestern city of Yatsushiro, when the whole building suddenly lurched.
Everything on the kitchen shelves cascaded to the floor; bowls and glasses shattered.
The restaurant's co-owner, 75-year-old Hiroko Ogata, had just walked in.
"I was surprised, and scared," she told BBC News. "I went under one of the tables right away, but the table moved sharply towards the right, left, right, left, with me."
Ogata has lived in Yatsushiro, in central Kumamoto prefecture, her whole life.
The area is located on an active tectonic fault system and is no stranger to tremors. In 2016, a pair of earthquakes killed 277 people and injured 2,800 others.
But Ogata has "never experienced this big of a jolt".
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