Thousands of earthquake survivors in southwestern Japan faced extreme heat, power outages, and water shortages Thursday as rescue teams searched for people trapped in rubble and the death toll rose to 28.
Tuesday’s magnitude 7.1 earthquake flattened homes, damaged bridges, and triggered fires across Kumamoto Prefecture. Temperatures were forecast to reach 38 degrees Celsius over the weekend, increasing the risks for evacuees, particularly older people.
Hundreds of older residents slept on thin mats on the lobby floor of a community center in Uki City. Others rested between chairs and tables or gathered around a television for news.
Hiroyuki Matsushima, a 53-year-old supermarket employee and father of four, said the loss of electricity had made conditions difficult. “In this heat, if you don’t have electricity and air conditioning, it’s very tough,” he said.
As of Wednesday, 9,872 people were staying in 465 evacuation centers. Many other families spent the night in cars parked near convenience stores, service areas, and country roads.
About 22,670 households and facilities remained without electricity Thursday morning. Water service had been disrupted in about 84,000 homes as of Wednesday.
Television footage showed residents lining up for drinking water and fuel. Authorities sent hundreds of air-conditioning units to evacuation centers as temperatures exceeded 35 degrees Celsius in several areas.
The heat and continuing aftershocks also complicated rescue operations.
Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said Wednesday that 4,600 military personnel had been deployed to the affected area, including 170 assigned to rescue operations at the collapsed Aeon shopping mall in Kashima.
About 200 people had been evacuated from the mall before a suspected gas explosion caused the second floor to cave in about 50 minutes after the earthquake. An unknown number of employees were believed to have remained inside.
“We have pulled out 10 people. Of them, four were confirmed dead. Another is without vital signs. Another five have suffered severe and minor injuries,” an official from the regional disaster management office told Agence France-Presse.
Footage from the mall showed rescue workers moving through twisted steel, hanging cables, and fallen sections of the ceiling.
Businessman Fumihiko Matsuura, 56, said he had watched the latest “Toy Story” movie at the mall about a week before the earthquake. “I was here. I was just here,” he said. “It’s like I narrowly escaped the danger.”
Five people were also confirmed dead at a Nippon Paper Industries factory in Yatsushiro city after part of a smokestack collapsed. Four people remained missing.
Another person was pulled alive from a collapsed home in Yatsushiro but died later at a hospital.
The earthquake also disrupted transportation and manufacturing across a region that hosts major automotive, electronics, and semiconductor plants.
Honda suspended operations at its plant in Ozu, while Sony Semiconductor Solutions halted production at its Kikuyo facility. Renesas Electronics closed two plants after finding wall cracks, water leaks, and collapsed panels.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. temporarily evacuated workers from its plant in Kikuyo before gradually resuming operations while equipment inspections continued.
Taiwan placed a search-and-rescue team on alert and offered assistance to Japan.
“Taiwan and Japan are true friends who stand together in times of adversity,” Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te wrote in Japanese on X. “Taiwan stands ready to provide assistance at any time.”
The U.S. Geological Survey measured the earthquake at magnitude 6.8, lower than Japan’s reading of 7.1.
Kumamoto was struck by earthquakes of magnitudes 6.5 and 7.3 in April 2016. The disaster killed 273 people and injured more than 2,800. – with reports from AsiaNews and Agence France-Presse
