The death toll from a major earthquake in Japan has reached 28 as emergency workers continue to rescue survivors from the devastation. Thousands of people are enduring punishing heat, with temperatures forecast to hit 38°C this weekend. The 7.1-magnitude tremor caused widespread damage, flattening homes, damaging bridges, triggering fires, and leaving tens of thousands without power and water.
Rescue Efforts and Casualties
In Kumamoto, officials have extracted four bodies from the rubble of the Aeon shopping mall after a suspected gas blast following the earthquake. Ten people were pulled out from the mall, with four confirmed dead and another without vital signs. Five others suffered severe and minor injuries. At the Nippon Paper Industries factory in Yatsushiro city, five people were confirmed killed and four others are unaccounted for after part of a smokestack collapsed.
Impact on Residents and Infrastructure
The earthquake has left around 22,670 households and facilities without power and approximately 84,000 homes experiencing water disruptions. Hundreds of elderly residents, part of Japan's second oldest population, are seeking refuge in community centers to escape the heat. Authorities have distributed hundreds of air conditioning units to shelters. TV footage shows people queuing for petrol and drinking water.
Japan, situated on the Pacific 'Ring of Fire,' is one of the world's most seismically active countries. The archipelago experiences hundreds of jolts annually, though most are mild. The country is still recovering from the 2011 9.0-magnitude undersea quake that triggered a tsunami, killing or leaving missing around 18,500 people and causing the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
