Japan Earthquake Death Toll Rises to 18
The death toll from the powerful earthquake in southern Japan rose to at least eighteen on Wednesday, with several people still missing. Rescuers continued to search a collapsed shopping mall and a paper factory in Kumamoto prefecture, pulling some survivors from the rubble and from fires. The magnitude-7.1 quake struck the island of Kyushu in the early hours.
Emergency crews worked in sweltering heat to reach those trapped, racing against the risk of aftershocks along one of Japan’s most seismically active zones. Tens of thousands of homes remained without power, and more than a dozen buildings collapsed, though the country’s stringent construction standards again limited the toll. The new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, pledged a full emergency response, and nuclear plants reported no abnormalities. Watch for the final casualty count as the search continues.