Death toll climbs to 34 as quake survivors in Kumamoto face water shortages and heat

The death toll from the Tuesday-night magnitude 7.1 quake that struck Kyushu’s Kumamoto prefecture rose to 34 on Friday, officials said, as rescue teams searched for missing persons. More than 1,500 buildings were damaged, including 179 that were destroyed, and at least 96 people were injured, six seriously.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi urged authorities to secure water supplies “by doing whatever it takes” and called for close coordination with the military and other agencies. Nearly 80,000 homes remained without water, and fuel shortages limited the ability of people sleeping in cars to run air-conditioning as temperatures peaked at 36 °C (97 °F).

In Yatsushiro, a 116-year-old inn suffered severe damage, prompting its owner Keisuke Matsumoto to say the repairs would be extensive but that he hopes to preserve the family-run ryokan. Across the street, a fish-cake shop owner, Shinichiro Katayama, distributed edible products while waiting for water service to resume.

More than 9,000 residents were housed in shelters where additional power sources were installed to provide cooling. The quake also disrupted a local semiconductor lab operated by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, though the company reported that personnel were safe and operations were gradually restarting after structural checks.

Searches continued at sites such as the collapsed Aeon Mall in Kashima, where an explosion occurred after the quake, and at a Nippon Paper Industries factory where a chimney collapse killed nine of the 11 people rescued. Officials did not provide a definitive count of missing individuals, noting that survival odds decline after the first three days of a disaster.

"We need to have the air conditioning on throughout the day and night, which uses up gas," said resident Hirokazu Sato, who is staying in his car with his family until temporary housing becomes available.