At least 13 people are now confirmed dead after a 6.8 magnitude earthquake rattled southern Japan on Tuesday, leaving hundreds injured and tens of thousands without power or water. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announced the revised toll Wednesday morning, as rescue crews sifted through wreckage at key sites - including a paper mill in Yatsushiro where a chimney collapse sent two workers to the hospital in cardiac arrest, with nine others still missing.

An explosion at an Aeon shopping mall in Kumamoto prefecture tore away part of the main building, killing two women in their 20s and causing another person to suffer cardiac arrest. An Aeon spokesperson said customers and employees had been evacuated before the blast, and a government official noted a gas leak, though the cause remains unclear. The Japanese military mobilized 3,600 personnel and 20 aircraft for disaster relief, with hundreds of first responders from neighboring prefectures arriving Tuesday evening.

The Japan Meteorological Agency warned that areas hit hardest face a week of potential strong quakes and landslides, as the shallow earthquake continues triggering seismic activity. By Wednesday morning, over 60 aftershocks ranging from magnitude 1 to 4 had been recorded. A tsunami warning was issued but lifted within two hours.

Nearly 50,000 households were without power late Tuesday, and 140,000 lacked water. With temperatures forecast to top 30°C and high humidity, the risk of heatstroke looms for those without air conditioning or water. Many residents slept in their cars, fearing aftershocks. Despite the quake's intensity, relatively few buildings collapsed, thanks to Japan's strict construction standards and earthquake-resistant tech like roller foundations. Takaichi said authorities are still assessing damage in an area devastated by a deadly quake a decade ago.

Five houses were confirmed collapsed, and over 350 people were treated at local hospitals, many of which suffered power and water outages. An NHK report quoted a hospital employee saying, "People are coming in with burns and fractures from being trapped under objects... Inside the hospital there are water leaks and electrical system failures." About 300,000 people were instructed to go to evacuation centers.

JR Kyushu suspended services, including bullet trains, and Kumamoto airport shut its runway. Telecoms KDDI and NTT Docomo reported mobile service disruptions due to power shortages. No irregularities were reported at nuclear power stations. Footage showed multiple buildings on fire, large road fissures, and TSMC, Sony, and Fujifilm evacuated workers from factories. Chiharu Hara, a 35-year-old recruitment agent in Kumamoto, told AFP, "The office swayed violently side to side. I was afraid it would collapse. Everyone panicked."

The quake's epicenter was about 12 miles south of Kumamoto city, population 700,000. The US Geological Survey revised the magnitude to 6.8, while Japan's JMA rated it 7.1 on its shindo scale. A subsequent 6.1 aftershock hit at 5:08 PM. The Geospatial Information Authority reported crustal movement of 84 cm in Yatsushiro and up to 40 cm in Kumamoto city.

Japan, sitting on the Pacific "ring of fire," experiences a tremor at least every five minutes and accounts for about 20% of the world's magnitude-6+ quakes. A quake in Kumamoto 10 years ago killed 275 people, injured 2,739, and damaged thousands of buildings, including the city's castle - some of whose stone walls were damaged again this time. Japan also remembers the 2011 9.0-magnitude quake and tsunami that left 18,500 dead or missing and wrecked the Fukushima nuclear plant.