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Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae announced on Wednesday that at least 13 people have been killed as a result of the earthquake that hit Kumamoto Prefecture in southern Japan on Tuesday.
Japanese authorities reported an explosion at a shopping center in the prefecture’s Kashima area, where approximately 200 people were evacuated before the building’s second floor collapsed.
Rescue efforts are ongoing, Shinkansen bullet train services have been suspended, and thousands of homes in the area are without power.
The earthquake that struck Kumamoto Prefecture on Tuesday measured 7.1 on the Richter scale, and tsunami warnings were issued for the Ariake and Yatsushiro Seas.
