Powerful quake kills at least 13 in southwestern Japan, rescuers race to find survivors
A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck southwestern Japan on Tuesday, killing at least 13 people. Rescue teams are searching for the missing amid a heatwave, as authorities warn of strong aftershocks.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announced on Wednesday that at least 13 people have died after a powerful earthquake hit the Kumamoto area on the southern island of Kyushu late Tuesday afternoon. She described the rescue effort as a race against time and urged caution as a heatwave with temperatures near 40°C grips the region.
The quake, magnitude 7.1, is the strongest to hit the area in a decade. In 2016, a series of quakes including a 7.0 tremor killed 277 people and injured nearly 3,000.
Rescue workers, including Japan's Self Defence Forces, are searching through the rubble of the Aeon Mall in Kashima town, where the second floor collapsed, trapping people. At the Nippon Paper Industries plant in Yatsushiro, a chimney fell; seven people are feared still trapped, while two were rescued and two bodies recovered. Authorities are also investigating an explosion possibly caused by a gas leak.
Hospitals in Yatsushiro and Kumamoto city have taken in about 40 and 50 injured people respectively. Many manufacturers in Kyushu suspended operations but plan to resume Wednesday. Aso Kumamoto Airport remains closed, and a train derailed at Yatsushiro station. Kumamoto Castle, already damaged in 2016, suffered further damage to stone walls.
Shinji Kiyomoto, director of earthquake and tsunami countermeasures at the Japan Meteorological Agency, warned residents to be cautious for the next two to three days due to possible strong aftershocks. No major damage was reported at civilian nuclear facilities in the region.
