Tokyo, July 31:
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. The quake left at least 63 people injured, five of them seriously, the Kumamoto prefectural government said.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara, speaking to reporters Thursday, gave a higher number for the death toll at 28. That came from a police tally, he said, which includes cases still under investigation. Some of those cases may later turn out to be unrelated to the earthquake.
Survivors spoke about coming home and desperately pulling family members out of the wreckage. Some had suffered injuries and were rushed to the hospital.
Thousands of people spent another night at evacuation centres set up throughout the area in gymnasiums and other big spaces. Some homes were still without water or electricity, while others were simply afraid to go back.
Nearly 23,000 homes were still without electricity and more than 10,000 people were staying in the roughly 400 shelters, where power sources were being added to provide air conditioning.