Previously, on August 1, the local Vietnamese community held a funeral for Tran Van Son, the Vietnamese victim who died in the earthquake.

Yatsushiro and Uki are among the hardest-hit localities. Around 1,000 Vietnamese nationals live in Yatsushiro and approximately 350 in Uki, most of whom are technical intern trainees and specified skilled workers employed in the agricultural sector.

Following the earthquake, widespread water shortages became one of the most pressing challenges facing residents in the affected areas. Le Tram, President of the Vietnamese Association in Kumamoto, and Vice President Xuan Hoa said local authorities had ensured the provision of food and drinking water at evacuation centres.

Vietnamese families with young children have generally relocated to safe evacuation sites. However, many single workers have remained at their residences, posting messages in community groups requesting assistance with drinking water, food and other daily necessities.

Rescue workers operate at the site of a house damaged by the July 28 earthquake in Yatsushiro City, Kumamoto Prefecture, on July 30. (Photo: Lao Động Newspaper).

In response to these requests, Vietnamese associations and community groups in Kumamoto and across the Kyushu region have organised relief teams to deliver drinking water and food directly to workers' accommodation.

By the morning of August 2, many supermarkets and grocery stores in the affected areas had reopened, helping ease shortages of drinking water and food supplies. Meanwhile, large-scale search and rescue operations at sites where numerous people had been trapped have largely been completed.

At the Nippon Paper Industries plant in Yatsushiro City, rescuers extracted all 11 trapped individuals on the afternoon of July 30. Nine of them were confirmed dead.

At Aeon Mall Kumamoto in Kashima Town, rescue operations concluded at noon on August 1. Emergency teams brought 12 people out of the building, but seven did not survive.

On the evening of July 31, rescue workers at Aeon Mall Uki discovered an elderly man, believed to be around 80 years old, beneath a collapsed wall and pulled him out in cardiac arrest.

With rescue operations at Nippon Paper Industries and Aeon Mall Kumamoto - the two sites where the largest numbers of people had been trapped - now completed, response efforts are gradually shifting from search and rescue to assisting evacuees and restoring essential infrastructure.

The Japanese Government has prepared 73 hotels and accommodation facilities capable of housing around 2,200 evacuees as part of a second-stage evacuation plan, allowing people to relocate from overcrowded shelters or facilities that no longer provide adequate living conditions.

Temporary bathing facilities, water supply stations, post-disaster waste collection services and volunteer centres have also begun operating in Uki, Uto, Mashiki, Kashima and Mifune.

According to the latest figures released on the morning of August 2, the earthquake in Kumamoto Prefecture has claimed 38 lives and left 101 people injured.

Vietnamese Proficiency Test Held in Japan Under National Standards The launch ceremony for the Vietnamese language proficiency test and the announcement of the establishment of the Vietnamese Proficiency Examination Council in Japan took place on May 17 at the headquarters of the Vietnamese Consulate General in Osaka, Japan. The event marked the first time a Vietnamese language proficiency test based on Vietnam’s national standards has been organized overseas.

Vietnamese Community Football Tournament Held in Japan A football tournament for the Vietnamese community living, studying, and working in the Kansai region took place on May 17 at the Kashihara Sports Complex in the ancient capital city of Nara, Japan.