🔶 Death toll from Japan’s 7.1-magnitude earthquake rises to at least 13

After a powerful earthquake in southwestern Japan, the number of victims has increased to at least 13. Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s prime minister, said that rescue forces are still searching for missing people. According to her, many others have also been injured. Rescue and relief operations continued through the night.

The 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck in the evening of Tuesday, July 28 (August 6) local time, shaking the Kumamoto area in Kyushu, Japan’s main southern island. Apparently, part of a shopping center collapsed following a gas leak.

Aerial images released by several media outlets show extensive damage to the buildings of this shopping center in Kumamoto Prefecture. A large chimney at a paper manufacturing plant also collapsed.

Japan’s fire department and crisis management agency said that more than 260,000 people have been advised to evacuate their homes. Most of these people live in Kumamoto Prefecture and some in the adjacent Nagasaki Prefecture. The affected area is about 900 kilometers southwest of Tokyo.

It has also been reported that power has been cut to about 46,000 households in Kumamoto Prefecture, which suffered the most damage from the earthquake. According to Kyodo news agency, a freight train also derailed in the region. Runways at “Aso Kumamoto” airport have also been closed until further notice.