The death toll has climbed to 34 from a powerful earthquake in southwestern Japan that set off an explosion at a mall, toppled a factory chimney, and flattened homes, the Kumamoto prefectural government said Friday. The magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit Japan's southern main island of Kyushu on Tuesday. Officials said 34 deaths had been confirmed as related to the disaster, with one more death still under investigation, the AP reports. Dozens of people were injured. More than 3,500 homes were still without electricity, according to Kyushu Electric Power Co. Authorities said more than 9,000 people were staying in shelters, where power sources were being added to provide air conditioning.
In the days since the quake, concerns have grown about illnesses, including from the sweltering heat. Temperatures Friday were due to rise to 97 F in Kumamoto city, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency, after stifling 95 F heat on Thursday. There have been more than 100 aftershocks since Tuesday's quake and some people, fearing further strong tremors, have been sleeping in their cars.
- Searchers continued to work in the Kumamoto area on Friday, including at the site of the collapsed Aeon Mall shopping center in the town of Kashima, where some of the most serious damage was recorded. The complex was bustling with thousands of people when the quake happened.
- The company said about 3,000 shoppers were evacuated to a parking lot before an explosion happened in another part of the mall, where some staff remained working. The mall's second floor collapsed, trapping people.
- The mall was closed for months after it was badly damaged in a magnitude 7.3 quake in April 2016. Last month, it reopened as an improved shopping and entertainment complex to mark what it said was a "fresh start" and a commemoration of the region's recovery from the quake a decade ago, reports Reuters.
- At the site, seven people were confirmed dead and 11 had been rescued, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told reporters in Tokyo on Friday. Authorities didn't say how many were still missing. A cat cafe in the mall said all 25 cats left behind in the chaos had been rescued, reports the BBC.
- Meanwhile, a search operation has ended at a Nippon Paper Industries factory in the Yatsushiro area where a chimney collapsed in the quake, Kihara said. Searchers rescued 11 people there, while nine others were confirmed dead.
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