Kumamoto quake death toll reaches 28, search efforts continue

KUMAMOTO, Japan, Jul 30 (KYODO/APP):The death toll from a powerful earthquake that hit Kumamoto Prefecture in southwestern Japan earlier this week has reached 28, including those suspected to be disaster-related, the top government spokesman said Thursday.

Search operations continued at Nippon Paper Industries Co.’s plant in Yatsushiro where one person remained missing. The Kumamoto prefectural government’s tally, meanwhile, put the total of confirmed deaths at 17, including eight at the paper plant and five at an Aeon shopping mall in Kashima that was rocked by an explosion following the magnitude 7.1 quake two days prior.

Six other people showed no vital signs, the prefecture said. With many houses collapsed across the affected region, the number of casualties is feared to rise further.

Discrepancy in casualty figures released by the central government and Kumamoto Prefecture exists at this stage because the state relies on police and fire service data, while the prefecture tallies numbers reported by municipalities, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said at a press conference.

As of Thursday morning, more than 10,000 people were staying in evacuation centers. About 23,000 households were without electricity and some 75,000 households without water, according to the prefecture, raising concerns about residents’ well-being.

JR Kyushu said bullet train service between Kumamoto and Kagoshima-chuo stations on the Kyushu Shinkansen Line has yet to resume as it struggles to assess the damage. It also gave up on initial hopes of resuming the section between Chikugo-Funagoya Station in Fukuoka Prefecture and Kumamoto Station on Thursday, cancelling all runs for the day.

Tuesday’s temblor registered the maximum of 7 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale in Uki and Hikawa at 4:27 p.m.

At that level, people cannot remain standing or move without crawling and may be thrown through the air, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.