Trump announces Hamas disarmament deal as Israel objectsIran hits US bases in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain as Washington denies lossesNATO activates air defences after missile hits Polish fieldUS hits dozens of Iranian targets as Iran strikes back at Jordan and KuwaitEbola deaths in eastern Congo pass 1,500 as treatment centres are torchedAnthropic says Claude models broke into three organisations during testsGermany counts nearly 10,000 heat deaths this yearKumamoto quake death toll rises to 35 as search of collapsed mall goes onNorth Korean missile suspected after Russian barrage kills eight in UkraineChongqing landslide death toll rises to 51Iraq-Gulf ties strained after US-Saudi strikes on Iran-aligned militiasBond yields jump after Fed holds rates steadyEgypt investigates Damietta port drone strike as Iran war draws in more statesUkrainian drones halt Ryazan refinery and Black Sea oil loadingSaudi Arabia forms multinational Red Sea shipping coalitionBig Tech AI spending climbs as Meta books $279bn in data-centre leasesRSF chief vows to retake Khartoum after battlefield setbackThree firefighters killed as blazes burn across Greece, France and SpainFirst tankers move through Hormuz again after Pakistani-brokered dealRussian missile destroys US-owned drone factory in KyivChina's Politburo promises more spending but no broad stimulusUS Senate narrowly rejects bid to halt Trump's war on IranUS signs $58.6bn Patriot deal as Ukraine turns to other alliesIBM claims start of quantum advantage eraRussia says it prevented Ukrainian strike on Zaporizhzhia nuclear plantRenewables pass 40% of China's energy mix as coal falls below halfThousands of migrants enter Ceuta as Spain deploys troopsChina voices 'serious concern' over US curbs in call with BessentEU offers billions for seven AI gigafactoriesSaudi economy shrinks at fastest pace since the pandemicUS growth slows to 1.5% in the second quarterBeijing threatens countermeasures over US robot and inverter bansPakistan says it is pressing US and Iran back to the tableOil prices swing as the US-Iran war widensPLA says it is combat-ready against Taiwan independence at its 99th anniversaryIsraeli strikes kill four in Gaza, including two childrenRussia claims capture of villages in Sumy and Kharkiv regionsUS tech companies push back on proposed curbs on Chinese chips and AISamsung chip profit jumps 250-fold as AI memory runs shortChinese navy and coast guard patrol Scarborough Shoal and warn off Philippine craftKorean stocks rebound 15 percent after record routSecurity Council holds first secret straw poll on next UN chiefJapan buys yen as India sells dollars to defend the rupeeZoox wins US clearance for paid robotaxi ridesMicrosoft sets record for biggest one-day gain in market valueSaudi Arabia pushes new regional order after Iran warWildfire near Sizewell nuclear plant forces evacuations in SuffolkTrump restricts exports of waste containing critical materialsCar supply chains disrupted after quake damages Japanese parts makerChinese brain implants help paralysed patients return to workTrump announces Hamas disarmament deal as Israel objectsIran hits US bases in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain as Washington denies lossesNATO activates air defences after missile hits Polish fieldUS hits dozens of Iranian targets as Iran strikes back at Jordan and KuwaitEbola deaths in eastern Congo pass 1,500 as treatment centres are torchedAnthropic says Claude models broke into three organisations during testsGermany counts nearly 10,000 heat deaths this yearKumamoto quake death toll rises to 35 as search of collapsed mall goes onNorth Korean missile suspected after Russian barrage kills eight in UkraineChongqing landslide death toll rises to 51Iraq-Gulf ties strained after US-Saudi strikes on Iran-aligned militiasBond yields jump after Fed holds rates steadyEgypt investigates Damietta port drone strike as Iran war draws in more statesUkrainian drones halt Ryazan refinery and Black Sea oil loadingSaudi Arabia forms multinational Red Sea shipping coalitionBig Tech AI spending climbs as Meta books $279bn in data-centre leasesRSF chief vows to retake Khartoum after battlefield setbackThree firefighters killed as blazes burn across Greece, France and SpainFirst tankers move through Hormuz again after Pakistani-brokered dealRussian missile destroys US-owned drone factory in KyivChina's Politburo promises more spending but no broad stimulusUS Senate narrowly rejects bid to halt Trump's war on IranUS signs $58.6bn Patriot deal as Ukraine turns to other alliesIBM claims start of quantum advantage eraRussia says it prevented Ukrainian strike on Zaporizhzhia nuclear plantRenewables pass 40% of China's energy mix as coal falls below halfThousands of migrants enter Ceuta as Spain deploys troopsChina voices 'serious concern' over US curbs in call with BessentEU offers billions for seven AI gigafactoriesSaudi economy shrinks at fastest pace since the pandemicUS growth slows to 1.5% in the second quarterBeijing threatens countermeasures over US robot and inverter bansPakistan says it is pressing US and Iran back to the tableOil prices swing as the US-Iran war widensPLA says it is combat-ready against Taiwan independence at its 99th anniversaryIsraeli strikes kill four in Gaza, including two childrenRussia claims capture of villages in Sumy and Kharkiv regionsUS tech companies push back on proposed curbs on Chinese chips and AISamsung chip profit jumps 250-fold as AI memory runs shortChinese navy and coast guard patrol Scarborough Shoal and warn off Philippine craftKorean stocks rebound 15 percent after record routSecurity Council holds first secret straw poll on next UN chiefJapan buys yen as India sells dollars to defend the rupeeZoox wins US clearance for paid robotaxi ridesMicrosoft sets record for biggest one-day gain in market valueSaudi Arabia pushes new regional order after Iran warWildfire near Sizewell nuclear plant forces evacuations in SuffolkTrump restricts exports of waste containing critical materialsCar supply chains disrupted after quake damages Japanese parts makerChinese brain implants help paralysed patients return to work
Bota
Symbolic image: Kumamoto quake death toll rises to 35 as search of collapsed mall goes onSymbolic image

Kumamoto quake death toll rises to 35 as search of collapsed mall goes on

4 sources

Three days after a strong earthquake hit Kumamoto prefecture in south-western Japan on Tuesday, the confirmed death toll has risen to 35. Rescuers are still working through a partly collapsed shopping centre and a paper mill in temperatures of up to 35C. About 15,000 people are in shelters and around 23,000 homes remain without electricity, with 75,000 without running water.

Japan VietnamAeon Co., Ltd.Japan Self-Defense ForcesNippon Paper Industries

Kumamoto earthquake

What happened

The quake struck Kumamoto prefecture on the island of Kyushu on Tuesday, 28 July, and registered the maximum level 7 on Japan's seven-level shindo scale; FAZ gives the magnitude as 7.1, the Guardian as 6.8. The prefectural government counted at least 62 injured. At the Aeon shopping centre in Kashima, the company says about 3,000 customers were evacuated to a car park before a gas explosion tore through another part of the building; of 12 people pulled from the rubble, six died, and all those caught in the blast were shop workers who had gone back inside. At the Nippon Paper mill in Yatsushiro a chimney collapsed, killing eight of the 11 workers trapped there, with one still missing. The Vietnamese government reported the first death of a foreign national, a technical intern killed when a crane fell on him at his workplace. Almost 5,000 Self-Defence Forces personnel are deployed, working through heat of up to 35C and an overnight aftershock of magnitude 5.8.

The view from outside

Chinese state media carried the rise to 35 dead on Friday as a straight news item, without political framing. Vietnam's government confirmed the death of its citizen, the only foreign fatality reported so far.

What could happen next

The toll has climbed steadily: 30 on Thursday by the Guardian's count, 34 the same day according to the New York Times, 35 on Friday. Officials put about 15,000 people in 400 shelters, with nearly 23,000 homes without electricity and 75,000 without running water; the defence ministry is airlifting coolers and shipping in water and food. Aeon's president bowed in apology on Wednesday and said the company had not anticipated the explosion, whose cause is still being investigated. Toyota has paused three plants and Honda a motorcycle plant, and the Geospatial Information Authority says parts of the ground shifted by 87cm, damage that includes the base-isolation system of Yatsushiro town hall, rebuilt after the 2016 quake.

Worth reading

Sources

The GuardianNew York TimesFAZ

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