Japan quake death toll reaches 30 as rescues continue

The death toll from Tuesday's powerful earthquake in southern Japan's Kyushu island has risen to 30, as nearly 5,000 Self-Defence Forces personnel search for survivors amid temperatures up to 35°C and a 5.8-magnitude aftershock. Rescue efforts focus on a collapsed shopping centre in Kashima where a gas explosion killed six workers, a paper mill in Yatsushiro where eight died, and flattened homes. Nearly 23,000 homes are without power and 75,000 without water; about 15,000 are in shelters. The quake, registering the maximum level 7 on Japan's shindo scale, also disrupted automotive and semiconductor production in the region.