The number of people killed in Tuesday’s powerful earthquake in southwestern Japan has risen to 34, as emergency responders continue search-and-rescue operations amid soaring temperatures and widespread destruction across Kyushu. Thousands of residents remain displaced while crews race to locate survivors trapped beneath collapsed buildings.
Authorities in Kumamoto Prefecture confirmed that the fatality count increased after rescue workers recovered seven more bodies from the wreckage of an Aeon shopping mall, where a suspected gas explosion compounded the devastation caused by the 7.1-magnitude earthquake.
The disaster also claimed the lives of eight workers at a Nippon Paper Industries factory in Yatsushiro City after part of the facility’s red-and-white smokestack collapsed during the tremor, according to the Kumamoto disaster management office.
Officials said five people remain in critical condition, while nearly 9,500 residents have been relocated to evacuation centres across the affected region as emergency shelters continue to accommodate families forced from their homes.
The earthquake inflicted extensive damage across parts of Kyushu, flattening residential buildings, damaging bridges, and igniting fires in several communities. The disaster also disrupted essential services, leaving tens of thousands of households without electricity and running water.
Relief efforts are being complicated by extreme weather conditions, with temperatures expected to reach 38 degrees Celsius over the weekend. Authorities have urged evacuees to take precautions against heat-related illnesses while emergency teams continue recovery operations and assess the full extent of the destruction.
