Death toll rises to 13 as rescuers search for the missing after Japan earthquake

Soldiers and emergency workers searched through a damaged shopping mall and collapsed buildings Wednesday for survivors after a powerful earthquake killed at least 13 people and left several others missing in southwestern Japan.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said rescuers were racing against time to find people still trapped following Tuesday's magnitude 7.1 earthquake in the Kumamoto area of Kyushu, Japan's southern main island.

"There are people who are still waiting to be rescued, and it's a race against time," Takaichi said. "We will go all out to find and rescue as many people as we can."

Japan's Self-Defence Forces joined rescue teams searching the badly damaged Aeon Mall in Kashima, where the second floor collapsed after an explosion suspected to have been caused by a gas leak. The number of people who may still be trapped was not immediately known.

At the Nippon Paper Industries factory in Yatsushiro, a collapsed chimney buried workers under debris. Seven people were still feared trapped Wednesday, while two survivors and two bodies had been recovered, according to the Kumamoto emergency response team.

About 36,900 homes remained without electricity and 9,500 without gas, while communication networks were disrupted in some areas, chief government spokesman Minoru Kihara said.

More than 9,000 people were staying in over 500 evacuation shelters. Authorities were adding power sources to provide air conditioning as temperatures in the region were forecast to exceed 32 degrees Celsius.

Takaichi said the government was preparing to deliver food and other necessities to areas badly affected by the quake and urged residents to take care of themselves in the heat.

The Kyushu Shinkansen bullet train remained suspended Wednesday. Aso Kumamoto Airport resumed operations after one runway was closed Tuesday, though some flights could still be cancelled.

Damage was also reported at Kumamoto Castle, where stone walls were affected. The historic site was badly damaged in a 2016 earthquake that killed at least 50 people and remains under repair.