Japan earthquake death toll hits 30 as survivors struggle in the heat

JAPANESE EMERGENCY WORKERS are battling to rescue any remaining survivors from a devastated shopping mall, as the death toll from a major earthquake hit 30 and thousands sweltered in punishing heat. Japan PM Sanae Takaichi Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock PhotoAt the mall, “we have pulled out 10 people. Another five have suffered severe and minor injuries”, an official from disaster management office in the southwestern region told AFP. Narrow escapeThe shopping mall was evacuated after the earthquake but around 50 minutes later the facility was gutted by the massive blast with an unknown number of employees still inside. Snapped chimney at a Nippon Paper Industries Co. factory in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock PhotoThe US Geological Survey measured the quake at 6.8, lower than Japan’s reading of 7.1.