Many people are feared trapped inside a shopping centre after a strong earthquake hit south-western Japan, officials say.

Media reports say 20 to 30 people are missing after a blast at the Aeon Mall in Kashima Town, Kumamoto prefecture, following the magnitude 7.1 tremor. The fire department said the centre’s “second floor collapsed”.

In Yatsushiro City, several people are unaccounted for after a chimney collapsed at a paper factory, police are quoted as saying by Japan’s NHK broadcaster.

The quake hit inland on Kyushu island at 16:27 local time (07:27 GMT) on Tuesday, with about 300,000 people being told to move to evacuation shelters. A tsunami warning was lifted within one hour.

The quake was strong enough to be felt in Japan’s overseas neighbour South Korea.

Japan is one of the world’s most earthquake-prone countries, experiencing about 1,500 quakes a year.

The country’s meteorological agency has warned of strong aftershocks given the shallow epicentre – 10km (six miles). Footage aired by NHK shows cracked roads and bridges and several buildings on fire.

The quake’s epicentre was about 20km (12 miles) south of Kumamoto, which is Kyushu island’s largest city with a population of about 700,000.