KUMAMOTO, Japan — Soldiers and emergency workers combed through a badly damaged shopping mall and collapsed houses looking for trapped survivors Wednesday after a powerful earthquake that killed at least 13 people and left many missing in southwestern Japan.
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Bullet train services and some airport operations remained suspended and damage was still being assessed a day after the magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck the Kumamoto area on the southern main island of Kyushu.
“There are people who are still waiting to be rescued, and it’s a race against time,” Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said. “We will go all out to find and rescue as many people as we can.”
About 36,900 homes were still without electricity, 9,500 homes were without gas and communication networks were not working in some areas, chief government spokesman Minoru Kihara told reporters.
More than 9,000 people left their homes to stay in more than 500 shelters, and he said power sources were being added so the evacuation centers had air conditioning. Japan has had an ongoing heat wave, and temperatures in the area were forecast to exceed 32 Celsius (90 Fahrenheit).
Japan’s Self Defense Forces joined rescue workers in the search and rescue operations at the badly damaged Aeon Mall in the town of Kashima. The building’s second floor collapsed, trapping people, after an explosion suspected to have been caused by a gas leak. The number of people who still may be trapped was not available.
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A chimney collapsed at the Nippon Paper Industries Co.’s Yatsushiro factory, trapping people under the debris, the Kumamoto emergency team said. As of Wednesday, seven people were feared still trapped. Two survivors and two bodies were removed, officials said.
Takaichi said the federal government was preparing to deliver food and other necessities to hard-hit areas. She also offered her condolences to the victims and sympathy to their relatives, while urging those affected by the quake to take care of themselves under the hot weather.
The Kyushu Shinkansen bullet train remained suspended Wednesday. Aso Kumamoto Airport was resuming operations after closing one runway Tuesday, but officials said some flights may be canceled.
Stone walls were damaged at Kumamoto Castle, a main tourist destination that was badly damaged in the 2016 quake and is still being repaired, Kyodo News reported.
“The shaking reminded me of the Kumamoto quake (10 years ago) and I was frightened,” said Hiroki Shimoda, an official at Mifune town hall, who saw roof tiles of nearby homes crash to the ground. Kumamoto was hit with a deadly quake in 2016 that killed at least 50 people.
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