A major earthquake in Japan that all but destroyed a shopping mall killed at least 13 people, officials said Wednesday, as rescuers struggled to reach survivors feared trapped in the wreckage. "Extensive damage has been confirmed, including casualties, collapsed buildings, fires and damage to roads," Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in Tokyo as she announced the 13 fatalities. "It was the strongest quake I ever experienced," Kanzo Matsumoto, 73, the operator of a luxury onsen hot spring inn in Yatsushiro, told AFP. Chiharu Hara, a 35-year-old recruitment agent, told AFP that she was "terrified" when the quake struck. Japan is haunted by the memory of a massive 9.0-magnitude undersea quake in 2011, which triggered a tsunami that killed or left missing around 18,500 people and wrecked the Fukushima nuclear plant.