KUMAMOTO, Japan - More than 9,000 people continued to take refuge at evacuation centers on Friday, three days after a magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit the southwestern prefecture of Kumamoto, while many households remained without water or electricity.
All search and rescue operations launched in response to requests have concluded within the prefecture, barring those at an Aeon shopping mall in Kashima that was rocked by an explosion following the temblor. A joint team of around 230 police officers from Hyogo, Osaka and Tokyo have been searching for any people left behind.
Some businesses began taking steps to restart after suspensions. Sony Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp., a subsidiary of Sony Group Corp., on Friday said it was planning to gradually resume operations at its factory in the town of Kikuyo on Tuesday, with hopes to return to full operations in mid-August.
Toyota Motor Kyushu Inc., which halted operations at three plants, said it would extend its suspension through Wednesday due to safety and logistics issues, as well as the status of its suppliers, but did not announce further plans thereafter.
According to the prefecture, the death toll as of Friday reached 35 and six were in serious condition. The number includes nine dead at Nippon Paper Industries Co.'s plant in Yatsushiro and seven at the shopping mall.
Around 80,000 households in the prefecture were without water as of Friday morning, while approximately 4,500 in Uki, Yatsushiro and the town of Hikawa were without electricity.
According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, 79 medical facilities experienced water or electricity outages in the wake of the earthquake, with the situation ongoing in 53 locations as of Friday morning.
Tuesday's temblor registered the maximum of 7 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale in Uki and Hikawa at 4:27 p.m., a level at which people cannot remain standing or move without crawling and may be thrown through the air, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
