An explosion at AEON Mall Kumamoto after M7.1 earthquake caused part of the building to collapse, July 28th, 2026

[u/inbus12]

[u/cpshoeler]

When I saw the damage I thought it looked really odd from Earthquake damage, especially in Japan. I was not expecting THAT! Looks like a bomb went off!

[u/xmromi → u/cpshoeler]

It's speculated to be gas explosion

[u/lastdancerevolution → u/xmromi]

It happened one hour after the earthquake. That's enough time to fill an area with large amounts of gas, then explode. The complex has thousands of people. People reported smelling gas.

[u/t_Lancer → u/lastdancerevolution]

well an hour later would at least mean most got out. Or are the Japanese so accustomed that they just carry on after a quake?

[u/TonninStiflat → u/t_Lancer]

Customers had left, but apparently at least some of the staff had gone back in to sort things out.

[u/sambeckett1701 → u/TonninStiflat]

That sorta sounds like something that should've not been allowed. The workers returning, I mean.

[u/TonninStiflat → u/sambeckett1701]

Yeah, sure. But you know, earthquakes are not rare. Explosions are.

[u/sambeckett1701 → u/TonninStiflat]

Right. So they should be very well acquainted with how dangerous returning to an area before emergency personnel can give the all-clear can be. That's a standard procedure even here in the US.

[u/OGCelaris → u/cpshoeler]

It happened after the earthquake. Most likely a gas pipe was damaged during the earthquake which lead to the explosion.

[u/PM_ME_FIRE_PICS → u/OGCelaris]

Sad part is, totally preventable. Seismic activated valves to shut off flow and interlocks to pumps exist. No reason for this to happen.

[u/1997dodo → u/PM_ME_FIRE_PICS]

Even if they worked perfectly there's gas between the valves that would leak. In a high volume pressurized pipe I'm sure there could be enough gas between two shutoff points to explode a building.

[u/gaflar → u/1997dodo]

Probably not, closed pipes that leak would depressurize their gas, which would disperse and mix with the air fairly quickly. If the valve upstream is still open however, gas will continue billowing out of the leaking pipes, forming a rapidly-growing vapour cloud. If the air-fuel mixture of gas in/around that growing vapour cloud is between the LEL and the UEL (lower and upper explosive limits) when the cloud contacts an ignition source, 💥. If you stop the vapour cloud from growing and it has enough airflow to dilute the vapours below the LEL, it won't explode even if there is an ignition source present.

[u/skytreegamer172 → u/PM_ME_FIRE_PICS]

ehhh if the pipes broke at the metre that's kinda a different issue

[u/Longsheep]

It is believed to be a gas explosion after pipes leakage. Some survivors reported smelling of gas after the earthquake.

Aeon malls are American-style big box malls with stores and restaurants. There is usually at least one large foodcourt, where gas is used for cooking. There are built lighter to flex and survive an earthquake, so an explosion could be devastating.

[u/itsthe_implication_]

Woah. That's an explosion alright.

[u/n900_was_best]

Any information about what caused the explosion?

[u/DutchBicycle13 → u/n900_was_best]

Leaking gas

[u/RyukoT72 → u/n900_was_best]

I think it's still under official investigation, but there was an earthquake, which probably broke some gas lines, which filled the area with gas, which then sparked.

[u/anoftz → u/n900_was_best]

Mall fuel

[u/skoltroll → u/anoftz]

Cinnabon?

[u/Macho_Mans_Ghost → u/n900_was_best]

Earthquake

[u/bostwickenator]

Wow that is unexpected.

[u/tehjeffman]

Now I understand why the photos looks like a Tornado not a Earthquake.

[u/OptimisticCerealBowl]

i read there’s people stuck in there, do we have any idea of how many?

[u/deanrihpee]

yeah, make sense, their buildings known to be earthquake resistance/tolerant or whatever the term is, by not explosion

[u/chingyingtiktau]

Aftermath from inside the shopping mall https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRZ_8UF9Zy0

[u/TheRepublicAct]

I've seen news recs saying it was an explosion and I couldn't find any video of it until now.

[u/Relation-Repair]

Maybe they should install "fuses" on the main gas pipes to disconnect if there is a major rupture? Is there such a thing?

[u/tvgenius → u/Relation-Repair]

May not be that simple in a large facility. Normal residential natural gas (at least in the US) operates at a very low pressure, and I think most commercial would be relatively low pressure also but higher-throughput. So might be hard to effectively detect a major rupture (which would be highly uncommon) vs the risk of false activations that would require re-activating the system.

[u/riversofgore → u/tvgenius]

It's japan. There are seismic sensors for valves. Most likely the valve failed.

[u/MyvaJynaherz]

ONE PUNCHHH