Death toll in Japan earthquake rises to 17 as aftershock and heat complicate rescue efforts

Soldiers and emergency workers are combing through a badly damaged shopping mall and collapsed houses looking for trapped survivorsThe death toll from the major earthquake that hit Japan on Tuesday rose to at least 23 as the search for trapped survivors inside a badly damaged shopping mall and collapsed houses in the country’s south-west continued.The magnitude 6.8 earthquake that struck the Kumamoto prefecture on the island of Kyushu has injured at least 62, the prefectural government said. That number has steadily grown, fanning fears it will rise. KUMAMOTO, Japan (AP) — Rural communities in southwestern Japan were struggling to get their lives back to normal Thursday, two days after a powerful earthquake set off an explosion at a mall, toppled a factory chimney and flattened homes, killing…

The Kumamoto Prefectural Government on Thursday said six people are in critical condition and five others seriously injured. KUMAMOTO, Japan (AP) — The Kumamoto prefecture says deaths from a quake in southwestern Japan have climbed to 23. Hundreds of rescue workers are battling for another day to reach possible survivors in the remains of the Aeon shopping mall in Kashima in the Kumamoto region.