One week after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake shook Kumamoto Prefecture on July 28, the disaster has refused to end — it has only changed form. Thirty-eight people are dead, nearly 14,000 homes are damaged, and more than 7,500 survivors remain in shelters, now contending not only with aftershocks but with record-breaking heat, water shortages, and an approaching typhoon. In this convergence of crises, Kumamoto offers a sobering reminder that natural disasters rarely arrive alone, and that the work of endurance often begins only after the shaking stops.
Week after 7.1 quake, 7,500 still in Kumamoto shelters as heat and typhoon loom
38 deaths confirmed including 7 from mall explosion and 9 from industrial plant collapse; 7,500+ displaced in shelters; 309 heatstroke hospitalizations in one week.