Emergency workers continue searching for survivors in southern Japan after a powerful earthquake struck the Kumamoto area on Kyushu island, killing at least 13 people and leaving many missing. The Japan Meteorological Agency measured the quake at magnitude 7.1, while the US Geological Survey recorded it as magnitude 6.8.
Rescue efforts underway
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi described the rescue mission as a “race against time” to reach people still trapped in rubble. “We will go all out to find and rescue as many people as we can,” she said.
Eight people were pulled from the rubble of a partially collapsed Aeon shopping centre near Kumamoto city after an apparent explosion occurred about an hour after the earthquake. Aeon reported that four workers at the shopping centre remain unaccounted for.
Takateru Sonoda, 41, who runs a hair salon and cafe near the shopping centre, told Jiji Press: “I thought a bomb had gone off. There were people calling on others to evacuate and sirens were ringing out. Nearby roads were gridlocked, it was a state of panic.”
Missing at factory, widespread damage
Seven people are still missing at the Nippon Paper Industries factory, where a chimney collapsed onto the site. Japan's Mainichi newspaper reported that four people were rescued from the rubble at the paper mill, including two who were seriously injured.
Nearly 37,000 homes were without electricity, 9,500 homes lacked gas, and communication networks were down in some areas, said chief government spokesperson Minoru Kihara. More than 9,000 people left their homes to stay in over 500 shelters, he added.
