Rescuers Search for the Missing After Japan Earthquake as Death Toll Rises to 13

KUMAMOTO, Japan - Soldiers and emergency workers combed through a badly damaged shopping mall and collapsed houses on Wednesday, searching for survivors a day after a powerful earthquake killed at least 13 people and left many missing in southwestern Japan. The death toll is expected to rise as rescuers race to reach those still trapped. “There are people who are still waiting to be rescued, and it’s a race against time,” Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said, adding that the government would do everything it could to find and rescue as many people as possible.

The magnitude 7.1 quake struck the Kumamoto area on the southern main island of Kyushu late Tuesday afternoon, registering up to a shindo 7 — the highest level on Japan’s seismic intensity scale. A day later, damage was still being assessed, and bullet-train services and some airport operations remained suspended.

Where things stand

A shopping mall and a factory at the centre of the search

Two sites have become the focus of the rescue effort. At the Aeon Mall in the town of Kashima, the building’s second floor collapsed after an explosion that officials suspect was caused by a gas leak; the fire department in the prefectural capital of Kumamoto said people were trapped there. The mall’s operator reported that several people had died and others were missing at the site, and members of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces joined the search. Officials said the number of people who might still be trapped in the rubble was not immediately clear. A resident who lives across the road described the blast as terrifyingly loud.

At Nippon Paper Industries’ factory in Yatsushiro, a chimney collapsed, trapping workers under debris, according to the Kumamoto emergency team. Accounts of the numbers involved varied through the day as the operation continued: officials said two survivors and two bodies had been removed, with several more people feared still trapped, while public broadcaster NHK, citing local authorities, reported that a larger number of workers remained unaccounted for and that two people had been found in a state of cardiopulmonary arrest — a term Japanese officials use before a death is formally confirmed. The figures were changing as rescuers worked.

Government mobilises as thousands lose power

Prime Minister Takaichi said the Self-Defense Forces had been mobilised alongside police and firefighters, and that the government was preparing to deliver water, food and other necessities to the hardest-hit areas. She offered her condolences to the families of those killed and urged residents to look after themselves in the summer heat. According to the chief government spokesperson, about 36,900 homes remained without electricity and some 9,500 without gas, while communication networks were down in parts of the region. The Japan Meteorological Agency urged people to remain cautious over the following two to three days because of the risk of further strong aftershocks.

Echoes of 2016

The disaster stirred difficult memories in a region still recovering from an earlier catastrophe. Stone walls were damaged at Kumamoto Castle, a landmark that was badly hit in 2016 and is still under repair, according to Kyodo News. Residents recalled that earlier disaster: one town-hall official said the shaking reminded him of the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake, which killed at least 50 people, and left him frightened as roof tiles crashed to the ground nearby. As night fell, the search for the missing continued.