Rescuers raced to find survivors on Wednesday, a day after a massive earthquake rocked Kumamoto Prefecture and triggered a large explosion at a popular shopping mall.
At least 13 people were killed and five more feared dead in the southwestern prefecture, the Japanese government said, with the toll expected to rise as police, firefighters and Self-Defense Forces personnel hunted for the missing following the magnitude 7.1 quake, which also registered up to a shindo 7, the highest level on the Japanese seismic intensity scale.
At least three of the deaths came at a major shopping mall in the town of Kashima after an explosion ripped through the building, causing a large portion of it to collapse, Aeon President Akio Yoshida told a news conference Wednesday afternoon. All of the casualties were employees, he added.
AloJapan.com