Aug 01 (v7n) - Japanese officials announced Saturday that rescue operations at a shopping mall devastated by an explosion following a powerful earthquake have been called off, with at least 36 people confirmed dead.
According to the disaster management office of Kumamoto region—struck by a 7.1-magnitude quake on Tuesday—a total of 12 people were pulled from the site, seven of whom were later confirmed dead.
"We conducted a thorough search over the past two days in collaboration with the fire service, the Self-Defence Forces, and other regional police units" to ensure no one remained missing, a police official told a disaster management meeting Saturday, adding that no such individuals were found.
Aeon, the mall's operator, told AFP that the seven deceased were employees of tenant stores.
Rescue efforts at a paper factory where a smokestack collapsed were also terminated on Friday. Nine bodies and two survivors were recovered from that site.
The quake caused widespread destruction across the sweltering southwestern region, flattening homes, damaging bridges, sparking fires, and leaving many without electricity and water. As of Saturday, more than 9,000 people—many of them elderly—remained in shelters. Power outages have mostly been resolved, but 59,000 households still lack water.
Japan, located along the Pacific "Ring of Fire" atop four major tectonic plates, is among the world's most earthquake-prone countries. Kumamoto was previously devastated by two major quakes in 2016, which claimed 273 lives and injured over 2,800.
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