Death toll from M7.1 Kumamoto earthquake tops 30, services still disrupted

KUMAMOTO, Japan - The death toll from a magnitude 7.1 earthquake that jolted the southwestern Japanese prefecture of Kumamoto exceeded 30 on Thursday, as thousands of evacuees endured disruptions to essential services in sweltering summer heat while rescue workers raced against time as the critical 72-hour window since the disaster neared its end.

The tally includes eight people at a Nippon Paper Industries Co. plant in Yatsushiro that was severely damaged by Tuesday's quake and seven workers at an Aeon shopping mall in Kashima, where an explosion occurred after the quake. The prefectural government put the total death toll from the quake at 34.