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Japan: Death toll rises to 34 after deadly earthquake
Rescuers are searching for survivors after a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck southern Japan, killing at least 34 people and causing widespread damage. DW has more.
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07/31/2026 July 31, 2026 Sniffer dogs make final sweep as Japan quake toll hits 35 Sniffer dogs are helping rescuers carry out a final search of a shopping mall torn apart by a suspected gas explosion after Tuesday's quake.
Government spokesperson Minoru Kihara said 11 people had been pulled from the wreckage of the Aeon mall by Thursday night, seven of them dead.
"To make sure that no one else is inside, we are finalizing our checks with the assistance of professionally trained dogs," he said.
The mall was evacuated before the explosion, which struck more than an hour after the magnitude 7.1 quake. Local media reported that all employees had now been accounted for.
At a paper factory hit by another major collapse, rescuers recovered nine bodies and ended the search operation, Kihara said.
Two survivors were also pulled from the site after a smokestack came crashing down.
07/31/2026 July 31, 2026 Thousands of Kumamoto homes still without water amid sweltering heat Some 800 households remain without electricity as if Friday, while more than 79,000 homes in Kumamoto prefecture still have no water supply, according to regional authorities.
More than 9,000 people are staying in evacuation shelters amid dangerously high temperatures. Authorities said additional power sources and hundreds of air-conditioning units are being installed.
Fuel has also become scarce after power cuts disabled filling stations. Fuel deliveries from other regions have also been hampered by earthquake damage.
Many Kumamoto residents have been sleeping in their cars. Due to fuel shortages, however, many are struggle to keep air conditioning running in the sweltering heat.
Television footage showed long lines for petrol and drinking water as authorities worked to restore essential services.
07/31/2026 July 31, 2026 Japan earthquake death toll rises to 34 The death toll from a powerful earthquake in southwestern Japan has risen to 34 as rescuers continue searching damaged buildings three days after the disaster.
The Kumamoto prefectural government said one further death was still being investigated as possibly linked to the magnitude 7.1 quake, meaning the toll could rise to 35. More than 80 people have been injured, including five seriously.
07/29/2026 July 29, 2026 WATCH — Japanese rescuers share video inside mall after earthquake sparks explosion Officials shared video from inside the Aeon mall in Kashima, Japan, that was destroyed after a magnitude 7.1 earthquake sparked an explosion inside the building.
Investigators suspect a gas leak caused the blast, which tore through the mall around an hour after the quake.
07/29/2026 July 29, 2026 Borussia Dortmund express condolences while on Japan tour German Bundesliga football club Borussia Dortmund have conveyed their sympathy with the victims of Tuesday's deadly earthquake while on tour in Japan .
"Borussia Dortmund express their deepest condolences to everyone suffering from the devastating earthquake that struck Japan's Kumamoto region yesterday," the club wrote on social media. "Our thoughts are with all those affected."
BVB, who finished second in the Bundesliga last season, are currently on a summer marketing tour of Japan, playing games in Osaka and Tokyo on the central island of Honshu – hundreds of kilometers east of the earthquake epicenter off the southwestern island of Kyushu.
It's the fourth time since 2015 that BVB have visited Japan, where the club enjoys strong support.
Following the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami that struck eastern Japan in 2011, BVB played a charity game against a Japanese XI and raised €1.2 million ($1.4 million) for the reconstruction of an orphanage.
07/29/2026 July 29, 2026 'The strongest quake I have ever experienced' Earthquake survivors have been describing the moment the 7.1 magnitude quake struck Japan 's southwestern Kumamoto region.
"It was the strongest quake I have ever experienced," 73-year-old businessman Kanzo Matsuomoto told the AFP news agency. "I'm not sure if the region will recover from the damage."
Tokito Kitagawa was riding his motorcycle at the time of the earthquake and said: "Suddenly, there was a huge noise. I couldn't stay on my feet. I had to crouch down."
Kiyoshi Matsunaga, 74, was heading to the supermarket checkout just a few streets away from the collapsed Aeon shopping mall when the shaking began.
"I was frightened," he told the Associated Press, describing items being scattered from the supermarket shelves.
"I thought a bomb had gone off," Takateru Sonoda, 41, who runs a combined hair salon and café near the mall, told local news agency Jiji Press.
"There were people calling on others to evacuate and sirens were ringing out. Nearby roads were gridlocked, it was a state of panic."
Yuki Kiyozumi, deputy chief priest at a nearby temple, had just returned home from a meeting and was about to feed her cat. She recalled how she had to crawl on the floor because the shaking was so violent and said: "I don't even know if or how we can rebuild again."
07/29/2026 July 29, 2026 Hospitals struggle to cope near quake epicenter Hospitals near the epicenter have come under severe strain as power outages and a surge in casualties disrupt medical care.
A hospital in the Uki district said it was unable to operate after losing electricity in the earthquake.
"It's become like a field hospital," the head of its administrative department told Japanese public broadcaster NHK.
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