Student who escaped mall explosion after Kumamoto quake urges youths to pursue peace

NAGASAKI -- A 15-year-old high school student from Kumamoto Prefecture, Kazuki Morinaga, shared her experience of surviving the July 28 Kumamoto earthquake while inside a mall that later experienced an explosion. Morinaga, a first-year student at Kumamoto Prefectural Kumamoto Commercial High School, urged young people to strive for a world without war and nuclear weapons at a gathering of Japanese high school students on August 8th, ahead of the 81st anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.

During the quake, she was waiting for a movie to start on the second floor of Aeon Mall Kumamoto in Kashima when the earth violently shook. A woman among the 20 or so moviegoers advised everyone to keep their heads down. Morinaga and her family, fearing the building might collapse, evacuated immediately through an emergency exit.

Upon hearing that the mall had exploded, she reflected on how delayed evacuation could have endangered them. The gathering of high school students, attended by about 150 participants, focused on promoting peace and working towards the elimination of nuclear weapons.