Death toll from Japan earthquake climbs to 23 as rescuers face race against time

Rural communities in south-western Japan were struggling to get their lives back to normal on Thursday, two days after a powerful earthquake set off an explosion at a mall, toppled a factory chimney and flattened homes, killing at least 23 people.

Time was running out to find survivors, as rescuers continued to work in the Kumamoto area on Japan’s southern main island of Kyushu, where the magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit on Tuesday.

The number of those missing was unclear. The quake left at least 63 people injured, five of them seriously, the Kumamoto prefectural government said.

Survivors spoke about coming home and desperately pulling family members out of the wreckage. Some had suffered injuries and were rushed to the hospital.

Thousands of people spent another night at evacuation centres set up throughout the area in gymnasiums and other big spaces. Some homes were still without water or electricity, while others were simply afraid to go back.

Although Japan boasts strict building codes because of the frequency of quakes in the country, some homes in the area are in the older style of Japanese housing, making them relatively fragile.

The most serious damage was at the Aeon Mall shopping centre in the town of Kashima, which was bustling with thousands of people when the quake struck in the late afternoon.

The company said some 3,000 customers were evacuated to a parking lot before the explosion happened in another part of the mall, where some people were still working. The mall’s second floor collapsed, trapping people.

As of early Thursday, six people were confirmed to have died at the mall site among the 11 people pulled out of the wreckage, according to Kumamoto authorities.

Family members of those still missing could be seen wandering helplessly near the wrecked mall, waiting for word, despite the sweltering weather.

In the Yatsushiro area, where a chimney collapsed at a Nippon Paper Industries factory, 10 people were rescued, but eight others died, and one remained missing, according to the Kumamoto prefectural government disaster team.

Nearly 23,000 homes were still without electricity and more than 10,000 people were staying in the roughly 400 shelters, where power sources were being added to provide air conditioning.