What happened
Search teams have rescued eight people from the ruins of a shopping center after a powerful earthquake struck the southern Japanese island of Kyushu on Tuesday. Recovery operations continued overnight at the Aeon Mall in Kumamoto Prefecture after part of the building collapsed and an explosion followed the initial quake.
The earthquake was initially measured at a magnitude 7.1 before being revised to a 6.8. It was followed by more than 60 aftershocks and together, they sparked fires, damaged roads and cut power to thousands of homes. At least 18 people are known to have died, and the death toll is expected to rise.
Who said what
“Although more than 20 hours have passed since the earthquake, there are those still in need of help,” Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said during a press conference. “This is truly a race against time.”
The earthquake has “rattled a region still marked by one of the country’s deadliest recent disasters,” CNN said. In 2016, a series of massive earthquakes killed 275 people, injured thousands more and caused widespread devastation, with more than 200,000 homes damaged.
What next?
Emergency workers continue to look for people who are trapped or missing, as engineers assess the damaged infrastructure. The Japan Meteorological Agency has warned of landslides and further aftershocks over the coming week because the quake is still “triggering seismic activity in the area,” said The Guardian.