Yatsuhiro, Kumamoto Pref. – Gosan Washimine was sitting in a dentist’s chair when last week’s magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck central Kumamoto Prefecture. The 74-year-old Zen priest had his mouth open when the violent shaking threw him off the recliner.

“It was almost comical,” he says, beads of sweat rolling down his shaved head as he stands beneath the gate at Kyuganji temple in the city of Yatsushiro. His smile fades when he recalls returning home. The temple’s living quarters had collapsed almost completely beneath the weight of its tiled roof.

His wife had been on the ground floor when the quake struck at 4:27 p.m. on July 28. Furniture crashed down around her before the ceiling gave way. For a moment, she believed she was going to die but somehow managed to crawl through a narrow gap in the wreckage and escape.