Powerful earthquake rocks Japan, damaging buildings and mall in south
An infographic titled “7.1-magnitude earthquake hits Japan” created in Ankara, Turkiye on July 28, 2026. (Photo by Mehmet Yaren Bozgun/Anadolu via Getty Images)
(TOKYO and LONDON) — A powerful earthquake rocked southern Japan on Tuesday, damaging building, causing injuries and prompting warnings from officials, according to local authorities and broadcasts.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake measured at a magnitude of 6.8 after initially releasing a preliminary magnitude of 7.1.
It struck Kyushu Island, in the Kumamoto Prefecture, shortly before 4:30 p.m. local time, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, where a large shopping mall has been damaged.
The shopping mall was evacuated when the quake struck, Japan’s NHK News reported, adding that there appeared to have been an explosion in the aftermath of the earthquake and that injuries were reported in the area.
Aerials taken from above the shopping mall appeared to show that a number of walls, as well as the roof, partially collapsed. NHK reported that the fire department said the second floor of the building collapsed.
The quake struck about 6 miles below the island, which is the southernmost of the main Japanese islands, according to local and U.S. weather officials.
The quake prompted the Japan Meteorological Agency to issue and later lift a tsunami advisory for the coasts of the Ariake Sea and the Yatsushiro Sea.
The agency warned that further quakes may strike the area in the coming days, with an official saying, “As the place where the latest earthquake occurred is shallow, this shows that many earthquakes have occurred.”
The rumbling on Tuesday afternoon lasted for about a minute, according to Japan’s NHK News, which broadcast images of apparent smoke or fire nearby.
The prefecture’s airport, Kumamoto Airport, in Mashiki, suspended flights all flights shortly after the quake, according to a notice posted on its website.
Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority said in an emergency update that it had not recorded “abnormalities” at nearby facilities in Ikata, Genkai and Satsumasendai City.
Several thousand homes were without power following the quake, NHK reported.
Officials urged people to stay away from the ocean and the sea shore. They also warned residents to watch for possible landslides.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said strong shaking could be felt in both city of Uki and the town of Hikawa. She warned of potential tsunamis of about a meter, or just over 3 feet, near the Ariake and Yatsushiro seas.
“I urge residents in areas that experienced strong shaking to remain vigilant against the possibility of further earthquakes of similar magnitude,” she said in a statement posted in Japanese on social media.
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.
A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck Venezuela and other regions in the Caribbean on June 24, 2026, in Caracas, Venezuela. (Photo by Edilzon Gamez/Getty Images)
(CARACAS, Venezuela) — When the first of two massive earthquakes hit Venezuela, American tourist Jason Wang said he was on a mountaintop outside Caracas, about to get on a cable car to head down.
It was just after 6 p.m. local time on Wednesday when a 7.2 magnitude jolted the South American country’s coastal region, followed 39 seconds later by an even stronger 7.5 magnitude tremor, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
High up on El Ávila mountain, about 7 miles outside the capital city, the 39-year-old Wang of Las Vegas said he was caught in a scene of confusion and panic, unsure what had just occurred.
“I was about to board the cable car. I started recording myself going in, and the whole building just started shaking. The floor under me was shaking, and then all of a sudden everyone started panicking,” Wang told ABC News on Thursday morning.
He said he and other tourists charged toward the exit of the cable car building.
“We were just rushing for the door to exit the building, and none of us knew what was going on until a few minutes afterwards,” Wang said. “We realized we got hit with a massive earthquake.”
Videos that Wang posted on social media showed him and others walking down the mountain back toward Caracas on a road blocked by numerous toppled trees. Wang said that as the sun was setting, he managed to get a ride back to his hotel in Caracas.
“I saw some people like cutting down trees that fell on the road to create a tunnel for us to get past,” Wang said.
He said that when he finally reached his hotel and was able to get a WiFi signal, he learned that the twin tremors were the biggest earthquakes to hit Venezuela in a century, causing massive destruction and widespread death across Caracas, a city of more than 2 million people.
“Once I got back on WiFi, I was able to contact my family and friends and tell them I was OK,” said Wang, adding that he was traveling out of the city to the jungle on Thursday morning to escape the danger being caused by numerous aftershocks.
Jorge Rodriguez, president of Venezuela’s National Assembly, said that at least 188 people were killed in the earthquakes, and nearly 1,520 more were injured.
But the death toll is expected to grow. The USGS said there is a risk of more than 10,000 deaths, though official casualty tolls have been slow to be reported.
President Donald Trump said there could be a “devastating number of deaths,” as Secretary of State Marco Rubio added that the U.S. is deploying rescue teams to Venezuela to help search for victims.
In Caracas, the scenes of devastation and desperation were evident in all directions. Online videos showed apartment and commercial buildings lying in heaps of rubble, houses knocked off foundations and thousands of people in the streets, shellshocked and watching as emergency crews searched for survivors.
At one point, more than 25,000 people were unaccounted for, officials said.
During the earthquakes, people ran from swaying buildings in Caracas, many visibly shocked when they turned back to see destroyed walls that left furniture visible from the street.
“It’s like a horror movie,” one frantic woman who escaped her damaged building said.
One Caracas resident, Armando Nori, posted a video on social media from inside an apartment building that began to shake violently during the earthquakes. The footage showed Nori and others in the building fleeing as walls and shelves collapsed, and items, including what appeared to be a water container, crashing to the floor.
Another Caracas resident, Gabriel Higuera, told ABC News that he lives on the top floor of an apartment building with his girlfriend, and described their harrowing race to escape. He said his girlfriend almost fell from one of the floors due to the violent tremors.
“The shaking made it impossible to move,” Higuera said.
Another video verified by ABC News showed people in an apartment building in Junquito, west of Caracas, falling to the floor and holding onto each other as the building started to collapse around them. The man filming the video was heard in the footage screaming for his mother as he started to run for cover.
Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said numerous buildings had been brought down in Caracas, and that the cities of Trujillo, Yaracuy, Carabobo, Aragua, and Miranda had also been affected.
There were reports of widespread power outages and cell phone disruptions throughout the country. Gas to many buildings was turned off to prevent fires, officials said.
Rodriguez declared a state of emergency, saying the earthquakes had turned the coastal state of La Guaira into a “disaster zone.”
“Dozens of buildings have collapsed there, about 30 kilometers north of Caracas, and we are currently carrying out intensive rescue operations to save lives,” Rodriguez said in a televised address to the nation, according to The Associated Press.
She said Metro and rail services are suspended in the city and that the heavily damaged Maiquetía “Simón Bolívar” International Airport is closed.
Video posted online and verified by ABC News showed people at the airport running for their lives as part of its roof collapsed, creating a cloud of dust. In the footage, people could be heard screaming as the sound of crashing glass and chunks of falling concrete echoed in the background.
Amid the devastation came reports of heroic efforts to rescue people trapped in the rubble. Eighteen people were rescued from one of the two buildings that collapsed in the Chacao municipality, about 7 miles east of Caracas, authorities said.
Dozens of aftershocks have been reported following the initial tremors, forcing many people to sleep on the street on Wednesday night out of fear of more buildings collapsing.
Following the quake, a tsunami advisory was issued, with the potential for hazardous tsunami waves possible for coasts within 300 kilometers, or about 186 miles, of the earthquake epicenter. However, the tsunami advisory later expired.
ABC News’ Will Gretsky, Shannon Kingston, Victoria Beaule and Aicha El Hammar Castano contributed to this report.
Atop the Acropolis ancient hill with Parthenon temple during a heat wave on July 20, 2023 in Athens, Greece. (Photo by Milos Bicanski/Getty Images)
(ATHENS, Greece) — Two Greek-American tourists were rushed to the hospital Tuesday morning after they were stabbed outside the Acropolis in Athens, Greece.
The incident occurred at approximately 8:05 a.m., just after the Acropolis Museum’s opening, police said.
Prior to the incident, an individual brandishing a knife outside the museum’s entrance was threatening pedestrians, prompting a bystander to place an emergency call to authorities, according to eyewitnesses and authorities.
Before law enforcement arrived, the assailant stabbed a couple, a 53-year-old man and a 48-year-old woman. The male victim suffered severe blood loss, police said.
The male victim’s injuries required urgent care due to blood loss, but both victims are reported to be in stable condition. The female victim suffered minor injuries to her hands and legs.
Police have taken a 60-year-old suspect into custody.
The rapid-response unit within the Hellenic Police and the Athens Police Directorate immobilized and disarmed the suspect, detaining the individual on the scene.
King Charles III welcomes Andy Burnham, during an audience at Buckingham Palace, London, where he invited the leader of the Labour Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government, on July 20, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Aaron Chown – Pool/Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Andy Burnham officially became British prime minister on Monday — the country’s seventh leader in 10 years — having already been elected as the leader of the country’s Labour Party last week.
Burnham, who until recently was serving as the mayor of Greater Manchester, succeeded outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Speaking outside the prime minister’s official residence — 10 Downing Street — on Monday morning, Starmer said, “Today I am here to offer my resignation and close the book on my time as prime minister. My work is done.”
“I thank the British people for the opportunity to serve. I go with good grace, I go with a smile, and I go proud of everything that we have achieved. Thank you very much,” Starmer added.
Of his successor, the outgoing prime minister said, “I now pass the baton to Andy Burnham, I wish him every success. He has my full support.”
After his address, Starmer traveled the short distance to Buckingham Palace to formally inform King Charles III of his resignation. Burnham then also traveled to palace where the king asked him to form a government.
The new prime minister then traveled to Downing Street to give his first address, telling the assembled press that Britain must show “that we can regain our stability.”
Burnham said his appointment will serve as “a circuit-breaker” for the country, pledging to deliver a new political and economic model and a 10-year plan.
Among the new prime’s commitments were to address cost of living concerns, help young people into work, end homelessness, re-industrialize the country, put “life’s essentials back under public control” and push for more local powers.
Through the rest of Monday, Burnham is expected to begin appointing cabinet ministers from Number 10.
Starmer announced that he would step down in June, following months of domestic political turmoil. Despite leading Labour to a historic majority in parliament in the 2024 general election, Starmer faced persistent external and internal criticism over his perceived failure to deliver rapid change after 14 years of Conservative Party rule in Britain.
Many in Starmer’s party had written to the prime minister asking him to step down following local elections in May, which saw the party lose more than 1,000 seats on local councils, results that were widely interpreted as a repudiation by British voters of Labour’s performance under the prime minister’s leadership.
Starmer long said he intended to see out his full five-year. Announcing his resignation in June, Starmer said, “The question my party is asking now is whether I am best placed to lead us into the next general election. I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party to that question, and I accept that answer with good grace.”
Burnham was the only candidate in the subsequent leadership election, ultimately winning nominations from 379 of the 403 Labour members of parliament — of the 650 MPs in total — in the House of Commons.
In accepting the leadership of Labour last week, Burnham said his mission was “to bring back hope” and address decades of economic inequality plus falling living standards.
“We must recognize that this generation of politicians — myself included — have failed to challenge a political culture and an economic model that simply doesn’t work well enough for ordinary people,” he said.
Burnham will become the seventh leader to take the reins of the country in 10 years, a reflection of the political and economic turbulence that has beset the country since the Brexit vote in 2016.
The incoming prime minister said he would also make British politics “less toxic, adding, “I will work to build a new politics. The country is crying out for it.”
Burnham, 56, was born in the Lancashire region of northern England. Burnham started out as a journalist, writing for trade magazines, before transitioning to work as a Labour parliamentary researcher while in his early 20s.
Burnham rose through the party ranks before being elected as the MP for his hometown of Leigh, in Greater Manchester, in 2001. He held that seat for 16 years, during which time he was appointed to several cabinet positions under Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
During Labour’s years in opposition, Burnham bid to become Labour leader twice, but was defeated by — and then served in shadow cabinets of — Labour leaders Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn.
In 2017, Burnham left parliament to become the mayor of Greater Manchester. In his victory speech, Burnham heralded what he called “the dawn of a new era, not just for this city region but for politics in our country. It has been too London-centric for too long. The old political and party structures haven’t delivered for all people and for all places.”
Burnham is associated with the center left of the Labour Party, and has described himself as a socialist. Burnham’s time as Manchester mayor saw him emerge as a major proponent of shifting investment and political power out of London, and earned him the nickname “the King of the North.”
ABC News’ Kevin Shalvey contributed to this report.
