A 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit Japan's southern Kumamoto Prefecture on Tuesday, killing at least two people after an explosion tore through a shopping mall and another in a building collapse, while knocking out power to thousands of homes and rupturing roads across the region.The prefectural government said early on Wednesday that rescuers working at the scene overnight had taken eight people out of the Aeon Mall Kumamoto shopping center, where the blast occurred following the quake.
Of those eight, two women in their 20s were confirmed dead, while one other person was reported to be in cardiopulmonary arrest. The five others were injured, but officials said their condition was not life-threatening.
Emergency fire rescue teams, police and Self-Defense Force personnel were working together at the scene overnight, concentrating search operations on areas of the building where calls for help had been received.
Speaking to reporters from her office in Tokyo on Tuesday, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said authorities were still assessing the full extent of the damage in the area, which was also devastated by a deadly quake a decade ago.
"We have already been informed that people have been injured. Power outages and fires have occurred in some areas, and there has also been damage to roads and bridges and the collapse of buildings," Takaichi said.
