Apple Donating to Japan Earthquake Relief Efforts

Thursday July 30, 2026 10:26 am PDT by Juli Clover

Apple CEO Tim Cook today said Apple would be making a donation to support earthquake relief efforts in Japan.

A magnitude 6.8 earthquake (per the USGS) hit the Kumamoto prefecture on Kyushu island on Tuesday, collapsing buildings and killing at least 34 people.

Japan has a very special place in my heart. We're thinking of everyone as they continue to face the effects of the Kumamoto earthquake and aftershocks. We're grateful to the first responders helping those in need. Apple is making a donation to support relief efforts. — Tim Cook (@tim_cook) July 30, 2026

Aftershocks continued on Wednesday and Thursday. Kyushu is the third largest of Japan's four main islands, and it has the second-highest population.

Apple often donates to the Red Cross for relief efforts during natural disasters, but donation amounts are not shared. Last night, Cook said Apple was donating to wildfire relief efforts in France, Spain, and other countries.

Kumamoto was previously hit with a deadly earthquake in 2016, and Apple collected donations for Japan through iTunes.

Tag: Donations

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Top Rated Comments

repoman016

12 weeks ago

More accurately: Donation amounts used to be shared, but Apple decided it was bad optics for a company that makes $30B each quarter to donate a measly few million to those suffering a natural disaster.

-R

Which is sad. It doesn't matter if its a thousand dollars or a billion dollars. Contributions to disasters should be praised regardless the ammount, as its not required from anyone...

Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)

AppleWes

12 weeks ago

I don't know how anyone could spin this story into a negative, but here we are.

People who complain it's "not enough" have most likely never donated a single dime themselves.

Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)

boswald

12 weeks ago

I don't know how anyone could spin this story into a negative, but here we are.

Regardless, I'm glad Apple is donating to those in need. Even if it's just a "paltry" million, that's a million more dollars than they had yesterday, and that could save countless people.

Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)

RealKeishav

12 weeks ago

I think a good solution would be to use their mountains of sales and usage data to figure out how much they made in the past year from the people in that area and basically refund that profit back to the area as the disaster relief amount, at a minimum.

-R

I think you should also donate

Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

svish

12 weeks ago

Good that Apple is donating. Hope it helps with the relief efforts.

Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

bg1419

12 weeks ago

More accurately: Donation amounts used to be shared, but Apple decided it was bad optics for a company that makes $30B each quarter to donate a measly few million to those suffering a natural disaster.

-R

I wish they wouldn’t donate anything and instead pass that money on as savings on to consumers, then people in affected areas will have more capital to rebuild themselves without needing corporate handouts.

You see how stupid it sounds when you take the most bad-faith, politicized position?

Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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Apple Donating to Japan Earthquake Relief Efforts

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