Death toll in Japan earthquake rises to 23 as aftershock and heat complicate rescue efforts

Soldiers and emergency workers are combing through a badly damaged shopping mall and collapsed houses looking for trapped survivors The death toll from the major earthquake that hit Japan on Tuesday rose to at least 23 as the search for trapped survivors inside a badly damaged shopping mall and collapsed houses in the country’s south-west continued. The magnitude 6.8 earthquake that struck the Kumamoto prefecture on the island of Kyushu has injured at least 62, the prefectural government said. That number has steadily grown, fanning fears it will rise. Almost 5,000 Self-Defence Forces personnel deployed to the region will be challenged by temperatures rising to 35C on Thursday, officials said, and a significant magnitude 5.8 aftershock hit overnight to further complicate recovery efforts.

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