Tomoko Sato, the chief of emergency medicine at Saiseikai Kumamoto Hospital, brought her two children to the hospital so she could continue treating patients following the Kumamoto earthquake. | SAISEIKAI KUMAMOTO HOSPITAL
Aug 3, 2026
When a powerful earthquake struck Kumamoto last week, Tomoko Sato found herself torn between two urgent demands: caring for a surge of incoming patients and protecting her own children.
As chief of emergency medicine at Saiseikai Kumamoto Hospital, a 400-bed regional trauma center in the city’s southern Minami Ward, Sato, 55, was thrust into the center of the disaster response.
The quake hit at around 4:30 p.m. on July 28, registering a strong 6 on the shindo seismic intensity scale at the ward — just one notch below the maximum of 7. By Sunday, 38 people had been confirmed killed and communities across Kumamoto were still struggling to recover.
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