12 Dead, 6 Others in Cardiac Arrest after Japan Quake

Kumamoto, July 29 (Jiji Press)--The death toll from Tuesday's powerful earthquake that struck Kumamoto Prefecture in southwestern Japan has reached 12, the prefectural disaster response headquarters said Wednesday.

Six other people were in a state of cardiac arrest as of 2 p.m. Wednesday, the headquarters said.

While the full extent of the damage remains unclear, police, firefighters and Self-Defense Forces personnel are continuing search-and-rescue operations in areas devastated by the earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.1.

Earlier on Wednesday, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said that the number of deaths had reached 13, including cases whose connection to the disaster was still being investigated.

The earthquake occurred at around 4:27 p.m. on Tuesday, registering a seismic intensity of 7, the highest level on Japan's scale, in the city of Uki and the town of Hikawa in Kumamoto. The cities of Yatsushiro and Kumamoto in the same prefecture recorded an intensity of upper 6, the second highest level.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]