Japan’s government on Thursday revised the toll from this week’s 7.1‑magnitude earthquake to 28 dead.
“The death toll currently stands at 28, including those whose deaths are under investigation in relation to the quake,” government spokesman Minoru Kihara told reporters.
Hundreds of rescuers are searching for the remains of the Aeon shopping mall in Kashima. Although the building was evacuated immediately after the earthquake, a massive explosion occurred about 50 minutes later while an unknown number of employees were still inside.
Businessman Fumihiko Matsuura, 56, said he had watched the latest “Toy Story” movie at the mall only a week or so ago. “I was here. I was just here. It’s like I narrowly escaped the danger.”
An official from the disaster management office told AFP that 10 people have been pulled from the debris, including four confirmed dead, one without vital signs, and five who suffered severe or minor injuries.
In Yatsushiro city, five people were killed and four remain missing after part of a red-and-white smokestack collapsed at the Nippon Paper Industries factory during the quake, a government official confirmed on Wednesday.
The earthquake caused widespread destruction, flattening homes, damaging bridges, and triggering fires across the region.
As of Thursday morning, 22,670 households and facilities remained without electricity, while about 84,000 homes were still without water. Residents have also been queuing for petrol and drinking water as temperatures are forecast to reach at least 35C, prompting heatstroke warnings.
While Japan’s authorities measured the quake at 7.1 magnitude, the US Geological Survey recorded it at 6.8. Japan remains one of the world’s most seismically active nations, situated atop four major tectonic plates on the western edge of the Pacific “Ring of Fire”. The region is no stranger to such disasters; Kumamoto was previously hit by two devastating earthquakes in 2016 which claimed 273 lives.
