Thirteen people have died in an earthquake that struck south-west Japan, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi says, adding that rescuers are in a "race against time"
Rescue efforts are underway at a shopping mall in Kumamoto, where many people are trapped - one witness reported the second floor collapsing.
Earlier, a Japanese official told the BBC that multiple people are unaccounted for at the centre, and at a factory after a chimney collapsed.
The earthquake - estimated at 6.8 magnitude by the US Geological Survey - hit inland on Kyushu island at 16:27 local time (07:27 GMT) on Tuesday.
The solid ground just suddenly turned into a mass that was moving, one eyewitness tells the BBC.
Dramatic footage from inside a shop 3.5km (two miles) east of the shopping centre shows children crying and products all over the floor.
'Biggest quake I have felt in 75 years' - resident tells BBC
Hiroko Ogata, 75, runs a popular omelet rice restaurant in Yatsushiro City, Kumamoto Prefecture.
She was in the restaurant, which had closed for the day, when the earthquake hit.
"All of sudden there was a big jolt, and I was surprised and scared," she tells the BBC.
"I have lived here for 75 years, but I have never experienced such a big quake. I thought I would die."
"I went under one of the tables right away, but the table moved largely towards right, left, right, left… with me!"
Bowls and glasses from the kitchen shelf started falling and shattering on the floor, she added.
Today she's picking up the pieces at her restaurant - though continuing aftershocks are making her nervous.
"The whole place is messy, and I don’t know where to stand. But we have to earn our living by restarting our restaurant as soon as possible, so I am cleaning the place today," she says.
"A little I work, then we have another aftershock… so it is going so slowly. If we keep having this many aftershocks It will be very stressful."
People 'calm, but very scared' as ground shook
We have more from the Newsday interview with Chantel Mohar, the tourist who witnessed the earthquake.
She says many people were standing outside to stay safe, and some were throwing up. She says they appeared "calm, but very scared".
At one point, she recalls, their bus driver got out to direct traffic.
Water was a concern, as power was out and they could not get bottles of water from vending machines.
"They did a great job at taking care of us. They were really concerned about water," she said of the guides.
"We're here and we're just happy to be here."
