KUMAMOTO: The Kumamoto prefectural disaster response headquarters said Friday one more death had been confirmed following Tuesday’s powerful earthquake, bringing the death toll to 35, including one whose connection to the disaster is under investigation.
With the critical 72-hour window — a period after which the survival rate is said to drop sharply — passing on Friday afternoon, efforts continued to find any remaining survivors.
Meanwhile, services between JR Kumamoto Station and Hakata Station on the Kyushu Shinkansen bullet train line resumed Friday. Authorities and other parties were also aiming to fully restore power in areas hit by the earthquake, which registered the maximum of 7 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale, by the end of the day.
According to the prefecture and other sources, the newly confirmed death was of a person who had been found at Nippon Paper Industries Co.’s mill in Yatsushiro, where chimneys collapsed onto the buildings below. All 11 people trapped at the mill have been found — nine of them dead.
At the Aeon Mall Kumamoto shopping complex in Kashima, where an explosion had occurred following the earthquake, seven people died. While all missing persons identified by the prefecture have been found, search operations continued to ensure no survivors had been left behind.
The breakdown of the 35 deaths is as follows: in Yatsushiro, 20 people in their 30s to 90s; seven in Kashima; in Hikawa, four people in their 50s to 90s; in Uki, two men in their 60s and 70s; in Kosa, a male Vietnamese national in his 20s. The remaining death is under investigation regarding its connection to the disaster.
Following the magnitude 7.1 earthquake, operations along the entire Kyushu Shinkansen line operated by the Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu) were suspended. Services partially resumed in Fukuoka Prefecture on Wednesday evening. On Friday, reduced services between Chikugo Funagoya Station in Chikugo, Fukuoka Prefecture, and Kumamoto Station in Kumamoto City resumed, meaning Hakata and Kumamoto stations have been reconnected. Commuters and travellers were seen waiting for bullet trains at Kumamoto Station on Friday morning.
Services remained suspended on the section of the line between Kumamoto Station and Kagoshima-chuo Station in Kagoshima Prefecture as of 3:30 p.m. on Friday, according to JR Kyushu.
According to a tally by the Kumamoto prefectural government, as of 7:30 a.m. on Friday, evacuation centres were set up at 390 locations with 9,105 people taking shelter. There were 79,100 households that remained without an active water supply across 10 cities and towns, including Yatsushiro and Uki.
According to Kyushu Electric Power Co., as of 11:30 a.m. on Friday, about 3,600 households were without power. The company was aiming to restore power for these households by Friday evening. - Japan News/ANN
