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Water Cut to 79,000 Homes After Japan Earthquake Death Toll Hits 34
Quick Summary
The death toll from Tuesday’s powerful earthquake in southwestern Japan has climbed to 34, with one additional death still under investigation, as search operations entered a fourth day and heavy machinery began clearing debris at the collapsed Aeon Mall in Kashima Town. According to NPR, the Kumamoto prefectural government confirmed the updated figure Friday, up sharply from 25 the day before, as officials said it remained unclear how many people might still be missing or the full scale of damage across the region. More than 79,000 homes were without water and over 3,500 without electricity as of Friday, according to Georgia Public Broadcasting.
What Happened
According to the Japan Times, rescuers raced against the clock to find survivors before the critical 72-hour mark passed, a widely recognized threshold after which survival odds drop sharply. At least seven of the deaths were caused directly by the explosion that brought down the shopping mall in Kashima, while another eight people died at the Nippon Paper Industries mill in Yatsushiro, meaning nearly half the confirmed fatalities are linked to those two specific sites rather than building collapses spread more broadly across the region, according to Al Jazeera.
The magnitude 7.1 quake, which the U.S. Geological Survey measured at 6.8, struck near the city of Uki on Tuesday, knocking out power to roughly 40,000 homes at its peak, halting rail service, and triggering tsunami warnings across parts of Kyushu, Japan’s southern main island, according to Al Jazeera. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has urged residents to remain vigilant for further strong aftershocks as recovery efforts continue.
In the town of Hikawa, one of the hardest-hit parts of Kumamoto, officials said more than 800 of the town’s 4,500 homes were destroyed or damaged, according to NPR. Many residents have been sleeping in their vehicles in parks, at the town hall parking lot, or outside their homes, either lacking water and electricity or too afraid to sleep indoors. Ayako Sudo, a woman in her 70s sleeping in her car with her husband, told NPR that even small aftershocks bring back an intense feeling of fear in a wooden house, and that she would prefer somewhere that felt safe.
Background
According to Wikipedia’s ongoing summary of the disaster, the Japan Meteorological Agency has officially named the event the 2026 Kumamoto earthquake, and separate reporting from Kyodo News indicated the death toll had briefly been placed even higher, at 30, before later prefectural counts settled closer to 34 as authorities worked through confirming which deaths were directly quake-related. Kumamoto sits at the southern end of the Japan Median Tectonic Line, the country’s longest system of active faults, making the region historically prone to significant seismic activity.
Japan has mounted a large-scale emergency response. Prime Minister Takaichi said more than 4,600 Japan Self-Defense Forces personnel and 480 police officers from 11 prefectures have been deployed to assist with rescue efforts, including 170 soldiers specifically assigned to the collapsed Aeon Mall site, according to Wikipedia’s tracking of the response. Authorities have also issued heatstroke advisories for the affected area as temperatures reached 35°C, adding another layer of risk for both survivors in evacuation shelters and rescue crews working through the rubble.
Why It Matters
The updated toll and ongoing uncertainty about missing persons underscore how quickly the human cost of a disaster like this can compound once secondary incidents, in this case the mall explosion and the mill’s structural collapse, are factored in alongside deaths from the earthquake itself. The fact that nearly half of all confirmed fatalities trace back to just two specific sites, rather than being spread evenly across collapsed homes and infrastructure, is likely to keep investigative attention focused heavily on what caused the mall explosion and why the paper mill suffered such catastrophic structural failure.
The scale of ongoing displacement, with widespread water and electricity outages and hundreds of destroyed homes in towns like Hikawa, also signals that the disaster’s effects will extend well beyond the initial rescue phase. Extended reliance on shelters, vehicles, and informal housing arrangements, especially among elderly residents like Sudo, raises longer-term public health and housing recovery questions that are likely to remain relevant for weeks or months after search and rescue operations officially conclude.
Statistics & Context
Statistics & Context
- Confirmed deaths as of Friday: 34, with 1 additional death still under investigation
- Earthquake magnitude: 7.1 per Japan’s meteorological agency, 6.8 per the USGS
- Homes without water as of Friday: more than 79,000
- Homes without electricity as of Friday: more than 3,500
- Homes destroyed or damaged in Hikawa town alone: more than 800 of 4,500 total
- Deaths linked to the Aeon Mall explosion specifically: at least 7
- Deaths at the Nippon Paper Industries mill: 8
- Self-Defense Forces personnel deployed: more than 4,600
- Police officers deployed from 11 prefectures: 480
- Soldiers assigned specifically to the collapsed mall site: 170
- Days into search operations as of Friday: 4
- Temperature reached during rescue operations, prompting heatstroke advisories: 35°C
What’s Next
Search and rescue teams are racing to continue operations even though the 72-hour survival window has already passed, meaning the odds of finding additional survivors continue to diminish with each passing day. Authorities have not yet clarified how many people remain unaccounted for or the full extent of housing damage across the wider Kumamoto region, suggesting both figures could shift further in the coming days.
Restoring water and electricity to the tens of thousands of affected homes, alongside continued monitoring for aftershocks, are expected to be the government’s immediate priorities as the search phase winds down and the longer recovery effort begins. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration is also likely to face growing questions about building and gas-safety standards, given how much of the current death toll traces back to the mall explosion and the mill’s structural failure rather than the earthquake’s direct shaking alone. Emergency housing and heat-related health risks for displaced residents, many of whom are elderly and currently sleeping in vehicles or shelters, are expected to remain a pressing concern through the coming weeks.
FAQ
How many people have died in the Kumamoto earthquake?
At least 34, with one additional death still under investigation as of Friday, July 31.
What caused the sharp deaths at the shopping mall and paper mill?
At least 7 deaths were linked to an explosion, believed caused by a gas leak, that brought down part of the Aeon Mall in Kashima Town, while 8 more occurred at a Nippon Paper Industries mill in Yatsushiro that suffered major structural damage.
How many homes are still without power or water?
More than 79,000 homes were without water and more than 3,500 without electricity as of Friday.
Is the search for survivors still ongoing?
Yes, though it has passed the critical 72-hour mark widely considered the window for survival, and officials say it remains unclear how many people may still be missing.
How has the Japanese government responded?
More than 4,600 Self-Defense Forces personnel and 480 police officers from 11 prefectures have been deployed, including 170 soldiers specifically at the collapsed mall site.
Editorial Note: This article was prepared using publicly available information from international news organizations available at the time of publication. Casualty and damage figures may be updated further as search and recovery efforts continue.
Sources:
Trump
Trump’s Teleprompter Operator’s Shocking $100,000 Bet on His Own Speeches
Quick Summary
Trump’s teleprompter operator, Gabriel Perez, has been placed on unpaid administrative leave after federal investigators found he made more than $100,000 betting on Trump’s own speeches using inside knowledge of what the president would say before he said it. Perez placed wagers on more than a dozen of Trump’s speeches through the prediction market Kalshi, including this year’s State of the Union address, over a roughly three-month period. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is now in talks with Perez to settle the allegations.
What Happened
Perez has operated Trump’s teleprompter since his 2016 presidential campaign and, according to CBS News, typically gets the final look at nearly all of the president’s prepared remarks, often incorporating last-minute edits directly from Trump himself. That front-row access to unreleased speech content is exactly what regulators say he used to his advantage on Kalshi’s “Mentions” market, where users can bet on whether specific words, phrases, or topics will be uttered during a public speech.
Kalshi’s own surveillance systems flagged the suspicious trading pattern and referred the case to the CFTC. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed at a briefing that Perez has been placed on unpaid leave at Trump’s direction, describing the situation as deeply unfortunate and, in her words, a disgrace. She added there would still be a teleprompter operator at that evening’s event, just not Perez.
Background
Perez’s bets reportedly covered speeches including this year’s State of the Union address, remarks at the World Economic Forum in January, and comments at a Medal of Honor ceremony in March, according to Engadget. The White House Management Office had already sent staff a memo back in March warning against using nonpublic information to place bets on prediction markets, a warning that, according to sources cited by multiple outlets, came before Perez’s activity was fully uncovered.
This isn’t the first time Perez’s role has drawn scrutiny. ABC News reported he previously came under congressional and federal investigation over edits made to Trump’s remarks connected to the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Why It Matters
The episode lands at the intersection of two fast-growing trends: prediction markets like Kalshi, which have exploded in popularity and now let ordinary users bet on everything from election outcomes to speech content, and long-standing concerns about insider access inside the White House. A staffer with literal advance knowledge of a president’s prepared remarks placing bets on how those remarks will unfold is about as close to guaranteed insider trading as a prediction market can produce, and it raises broader questions about what safeguards, if any, apply to White House staff using these platforms.
It also puts renewed attention on how thinly regulated prediction markets police insider activity in the first place, since it was Kalshi’s own automated surveillance, not a government tip, that first caught the pattern.
Expert & Official Reaction
White House response: Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump believes the situation is deeply unfortunate and frankly a disgrace, and confirmed Perez is cooperating with the CFTC while on unpaid administrative leave.
Kalshi’s statement: A Kalshi spokesperson said the company’s surveillance team promptly flagged and referred the trades to the CFTC and is cooperating and assisting regulators, according to Mediaite.
Ethics and oversight concerns: Government ethics observers note the case highlights a broader gap in how prediction markets police insider access, since Kalshi’s own automated systems, not a government tip or internal White House review, were what first caught the unusual trading pattern. That distinction matters because it suggests staff-level access to unreleased presidential remarks isn’t currently treated with the same insider-trading safeguards applied to financial markets or corporate earnings calls, even though the informational advantage works the same way in practice.
Renewed scrutiny of Perez’s role: The episode has also revived earlier questions about how much influence Perez has over the president’s final remarks, given his history of taking last-minute edits directly from Trump and his previous entanglement in congressional and federal review of speech edits tied to January 6, 2021.
Statistics & Context
- Amount Perez allegedly won: more than $100,000
- Number of Trump speeches he placed bets on: more than a dozen
- Time period the bets took place over: roughly three months
- Years Perez has worked as Trump’s teleprompter operator: since 2016
- Date of the internal White House memo warning against betting on prediction markets: March 24, 2026
What’s Next
Perez remains on unpaid administrative leave while he works to settle the allegations with the CFTC, reportedly by returning his winnings. It’s not yet clear whether the episode will lead to broader White House policy changes around staff use of prediction markets, or whether other staffers may face similar scrutiny, though Leavitt said she was not aware of any other officials currently under suspicion.
FAQ
Who is Gabriel Perez?
He is a technical assistant to President Trump who has operated his teleprompter since the 2016 campaign, giving him early access to the president’s prepared remarks.
How much money did he make?
More than $100,000, according to federal investigators, by betting on the content of more than a dozen of Trump’s speeches on the prediction market Kalshi.
Is he facing criminal charges?
As of the latest reporting, he is in talks with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to settle the allegations rather than facing announced criminal charges.
What is Kalshi’s “Mentions” market?
A prediction market feature that lets users bet on whether specific words, phrases, or topics will be said during a public speech or event.
What has the White House done about it?
Perez has been placed on unpaid administrative leave at Trump’s direction, and the White House had already issued a March memo warning staff against betting on prediction markets using nonpublic information.
Editorial Note: This article was prepared using publicly available information from international news organizations and official sources available at the time of publication. Facts may be updated as authorities release new information.
Sources:
ABC News:White House teleprompter operator made more than $100K betting on Trump’s speeches: Sources
CBS News:White House teleprompter operator made more than $100,000 on Kalshi bets on Trump speeches
