12 Dead, 6 Others in Cardiac Arrest after Japan Quake

Kumamoto, July 29 (Jiji Press)–The death toll from Tuesday’s powerful earthquake that struck Kumamoto Prefecture in southwestern Japan has reached 12, the prefectural disaster response headquarters said Wednesday. Six other people were in a state of cardiac arrest as of 2 p.m. Wednesday, the headquarters said. While the full extent of the damage remains unclear, police, firefighters and Self-Defense Forces personnel are continuing search-and-rescue operations in areas devastated by the earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.1. Earlier on Wednesday, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said that the number of deaths had reached 13, including cases whose connection to the disaster was still being investigated. The earthquake occurred at around 4:27 p.m. on Tuesday, registering a seismic intensity of 7, the highest level on Japan’s scale, in the city of Uki and the town of Hikawa in Kumamoto. The cities of Yatsushiro and Kumamoto in the same prefecture recorded an intensity of upper 6, the second highest level. After the quake, an explosion occurred at retail giant Aeon Co.’s Aeon Mall Kumamoto shopping facility in the Kumamoto town of Kashima, causing part of the facility’s second floor to collapse. About 200 people had been evacuated from the facility before the explosion. Ten people were rescued from the collapsed building. Of them, three were later confirmed dead, one remains in cardiopulmonary arrest, with another individual in an unknown state. Authorities said more people are trapped inside the building, and search efforts are focusing on areas where rescuers have received responses to their calls. At Nippon Paper Industries Co.’s plant in Yatsushiro, a chimney collapsed, trapping 11 workers. Five of the seven people rescued have since died. Numerous houses collapsed in the prefecture. A total of 8,886 people are taking shelter at 432 evacuation centers. Fire departments received 1,354 emergency calls, including 393 requests for dispatches in response to fires and other incidents. Water outages have affected at least 65,000 households in municipalities such as the cities of Uki, Uto and Yatsushiro as well as the town of Hikawa. Power outages have impacted around 34,880 households. With temperatures forecast to climb over 35 degrees Celsius in the coming days, authorities have urged residents to take precautions against heatstroke. In 2016, Kumamoto was hit by earthquakes registering the maximum seismic intensity of 7 on April 14 and April 16. The Japan Meteorological Agency warned that earthquakes of up to seismic intensity 7 could occur over the next week and urged residents to remain vigilant. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]