Japan hit by aftershocks as homes go without power

Emergency workers combed through collapsed houses looking for survivors after a powerful earthquake that killed 14 people in Japan's Kumamoto Prefecture, Kyodo News reported on Wednesday.

Different media outlets reported different death tolls. The Associated Press reported that the death toll has risen to at least 18. According to public broadcaster NHK, prefectural officials said 62 people have been injured.

The magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Kumamoto on Tuesday. It was followed by over 190 aftershocks. One day after the powerful quake, the prefecture experienced a preliminary magnitude 5.8 earthquake, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi confirmed on Wednesday that the earthquake and the resulting fires had severely affected infrastructure, causing multiple building collapses and road damage.

According to the Asahi Shimbun, partial services on the Kyushu Shinkansen line resumed late on Wednesday afternoon after the entire line was suspended following the earthquake.

More than 34,000 households in Kumamoto Prefecture remained without power on Wednesday afternoon. Around 84,000 households in 11 municipalities across Kumamoto and Nagasaki prefectures were still without running water, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

The earthquake also caused extensive damage to buildings and industrial facilities. An explosion at Aeon Mall Kumamoto in the town of Kashima caused part of the shopping center to collapse, while an industrial chimney collapsed at a Nippon Paper Industries factory. Rescue operations were continuing at both sites.

About 4,600 Self-Defense Forces personnel were deployed to support disaster relief efforts.

The earthquake also disrupted semiconductor and automotive production, affecting operations at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, or TSMC, Toyota Motor and other industries.

Kumamoto is home to TSMC's manufacturing hub in Kyushu. The seismic intensity reached upper 5 in Kikuyo, the site of TSMC's chip factory. The "upper 5" intensity indicates that most people would struggle to walk without support and unfixed furniture could topple.

According to Nikkei, which cited a TSMC spokesperson, the seismic intensity recorded at its Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing plant, a subsidiary of TSMC, reached the threshold for personnel evacuation, prompting an immediate precautionary evacuation. The spokesperson said the plant's phase II construction site was not damaged, but that some construction work was suspended.

Toyota Motor said it would halt operations at its three plants in Fukuoka Prefecture from Wednesday evening to Friday. Sony Group and Renesas Electronics also paused their semiconductor production in the region, with no restart date set.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said on Tuesday that nuclear power stations in the area were not affected by the earthquake.

According to NHK, the Japan Meteorological Agency said the earthquake occurred near the same fault zone that triggered the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake, but it was still too early to determine whether the fault had become active again.

China expresses mourning for lives lost and sympathy to the bereaved families and the injured in the earthquake, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Wednesday.

She made the remarks at a daily news briefing in response to a related query, adding China is closely following the earthquake.

Mao said the Chinese embassy and consulates in Japan have immediately activated emergency responses and issued consular alerts advising Chinese nationals to prepare for possible tsunamis and aftershocks.

Xinhua contributed to this story.