Japan quake death toll rises to 35 as rescuers race against time

The death toll from a powerful earthquake that struck southwestern Japan has risen to 35, prefectural officials said on Friday, as rescue crews continued searching for survivors beneath the rubble in the hardest-hit areas.

Authorities said it has not yet been confirmed whether all of the deaths were directly caused by the earthquake, and warned the toll could rise further as search operations continue.

The magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Japan's southern main island of Kyushu on Tuesday, causing extensive damage across Kumamoto Prefecture.

The quake triggered an explosion at a shopping mall, toppled a factory smokestack and flattened homes. It registered the highest level, 7 on Japan's seismic intensity scale. While the US Geological Survey (USGS) and Germany's GEOFON seismic monitoring network measured it at magnitude 6.8.

Authorities said more than 80 people were injured, including five who were seriously hurt.

Rescue efforts continue

Search and rescue teams remained deployed across Kumamoto on Friday, focusing on the collapsed Aeon Mall Kumamoto shopping centre and other heavily damaged locations as the critical 72-hour rescue window drew to a close.

Officials said seven people rescued from the shopping mall later died, while five others were injured. The explosion, believed to have been caused by a gas leak about 80 minutes after the earthquake, remains under investigation.

At another severely damaged site, a smokestack collapsed at a Nippon Paper Industries plant in Yatsushiro City. Eleven people trapped inside were rescued, but nine later died.

Hundreds of aftershocks have been recorded since the main quake, while emergency crews continue to assess the full extent of the destruction and search for anyone who may still be trapped beneath collapsed structures.

Japan, one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries, lies along the Pacific Ring of Fire and experiences about 20 percent of the world's earthquakes measuring magnitude 6.0 or greater.