Japanese Kumamoto Earthquake Death Toll Rises to 30

SAR team looking for victims of the Kumamoto earthquake in Japan/DOK 総務省消防庁

JAKARTA - The number of deaths due to the devastating earthquake that hit Kumamoto Prefecture, southwest Japan, has reached 30 people, including those suspected of being victims of the disaster.

Meanwhile, data from the Kumamoto Prefectural government recorded the number of confirmed fatalities as 18 people, including eight people at the Nippon Paper Industries Co. factory in Yatsushiro and six people at the Aeon shopping center in Kashima, which was hit by an explosion after a magnitude 7.1 earthquake on Tuesday (28/7).

Included in the prefectural data were three confirmed fatalities in Yatsushiro and one in the town of Kosa.

One person reported missing at the paper mill, where several chimneys were severely damaged, has been found but his condition is unknown, according to sources.

Meanwhile, separately, the Uki City Government told Kyodo News, they knew there were two deaths in the city, but had not reported to the prefectural government.

Vietnam News Agency reported that a Vietnamese trainee was killed after being hit by a heavy machinery (crane) at a factory in Kosa.

Currently, there is a difference in the number of victims released by the central government and the local government in Kumamoto Prefecture.

Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara, at a press conference in Tokyo, explained that the difference in data occurred because the central government relied on data from the police and fire departments, while the prefectural government calculated the figures based on reports from the city government.

As of Thursday morning, more than 10,000 people had been evacuated to evacuation centers. About 23,000 households had power outages and about 75,000 households were running out of water, according to the prefectural government. This sparked concerns about the welfare of residents.

JR Kyushu train operator said the bullet train service between Kumamoto Station and Kagoshima-chuo Station on the Kyushu Shinkansen Line could not be resumed because the damage caused by the earthquake was still being examined.

The operator also canceled the route between Chikugo-Funagoya Station in Fukuoka Prefecture and Kumamoto Station on Thursday, and canceled all train trips on that day.

The earthquake on Tuesday (28/7) was recorded at a maximum level of 7 on the Japanese earthquake intensity scale in Uki and Hikawa at 16.27 local time (14.27 WIB).

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, at an earthquake at that level, people cannot stand up or move without crawling and can potentially be thrown into the air.