The death toll has climbed to 34 from a powerful earthquake in southwestern Japan that set off an explosion at a mall, toppled a factory chimney and flattened homes, the Kumamoto prefectural government says.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said authorities were still assessing the full extent of the damage in the area, which was devastated by a deadly quake a decade ago.

Dozens of people were hospitalized after the earthquake hit southern Japan. According to media reports, many deaths are feared after a shopping mall partially collapsed in Kahima…