Hope dwindles for rescue in southwestern Japan quake as death toll climbs to 23
In this aerial image taken with a drone, responders work outside AEON Mall Kumamoto after an explosion occurred following an earthquake, in Kashima, Kumamoto Prefecture, southern Japan, Thursday, July 30, 2026. Koji Harada/Kyodo News via AP hide caption KUMAMOTO, Japan — Rural communities in southwestern Japan were struggling to get their lives back to normal 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 Tuesday. The number of those missing was unclear.
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Scoop News DeskKumamoto, Japan · Published Updated
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That came from a police tally, he said, which includes cases still under investigation. 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. Thousands of people spent another night at evacuation centers set up throughout the area in gymnasiums and other big spaces.
