Japan’s Prime Minister says rescuers are ‘in a race against time’ for being lost after a powerful earthquake
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Soldiers and emergency workers entered a badly damaged shopping mall and searched houses for survivors trapped Wednesday after a powerful earthquake killed at least 13 people and left many missing in southwestern Japan.
Bullet train services and other airport operations remained suspended and damage was still being assessed a day after a 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck the Kumamoto area on the southern main island of Kyushu.
“There are people still waiting to be rescued, and it’s a race against time,” said Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. “We will all go out and search and rescue as many people as possible.”
About 36,900 homes were without electricity, 9,500 homes were without electricity and communications were not working in some areas, Central Government spokesperson Minoru Kihara told the media.
More than 9,000 people have left their homes to live in more than 500 shelters, he said, adding that electricity sources are being added so evacuation centers have air conditioning. Japan has experienced an ongoing heat wave, and temperatures in the area are predicted to exceed 32 C.
Japan’s Self Defense Forces joined rescuers in a search and rescue operation at the destroyed Aeon Mall in the city of Kashima.
The second floor of the building collapsed, trapping people, after an explosion allegedly caused by a gas leak. The number of people still trapped was not available.
A chimney fell at Nippon Paper Industries Co.’s Yatsushiro factory, trapping people under the rubble, the Kumamoto emergency team said. As of Wednesday, seven people were feared to be still trapped. Two survivors and two bodies were recovered, officials said.
Takaichi said the federal government is preparing to deliver food and other necessities to the hard-hit areas. He also expressed his condolences to the dead and sympathized with their relatives, and urged those affected by the earthquake to take care of themselves under the hot weather.
The Kyushu Shinkansen bullet train is still suspended on Wednesday. Aso Kumamoto Airport was resuming operations after closing one runway on Tuesday, but officials said some flights could be canceled.
Stone walls were destroyed at Kumamoto Castle, a major tourist attraction that was heavily damaged by the 2016 earthquake and is still being repaired, Kyodo News reported.
“This tremor reminded me of the Kumamoto earthquake (10 years ago) and I was terrified,” said Hiroki Shimoda, an official at Mifune city hall, who saw the tiles of nearby houses shattering.
Kumamoto was hit by an earthquake that killed at least 50 people in 2016.
