'I thought I would die': Survivors describe shock and horror of powerful Japan earthquake

Business was winding down for the day at Sendan Shokudo, a diner in Japan's south-western city of Yatsushiro, when the whole building suddenly lurched.

Everything on the kitchen shelves cascaded to the floor; bowls and glasses shattered.

The restaurant's co-owner, 75-year-old Hiroko Ogata, had just walked in.

"I was surprised, and scared," she told BBC News. "I went under one of the tables right away, but the table moved sharply towards the right, left, right, left, with me."

There's a reason Ogata knew how to react so swiftly: she has lived in Yatsushiro, in central Kumamoto prefecture, her whole life.

The area is located on an active tectonic fault system and is no stranger to tremors. In 2016, a pair of earthquakes killed 277 people and injured 2,800 others.

"The last quake 10 years ago was nothing like this one," she said. "I thought I would die."

At least 13 people have been killed in the wake of the 6.8-magnitude earthquake that hit Kumamoto late on Tuesday.

Of that number, three died in the Aeon shopping mall in Kumamoto city, where a number of people remain unaccounted for.

Rescue efforts are under way, but Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has warned that emergency services are in a "race against time".

Just a few hundred metres away from the Aeon mall, Yui - who preferred not to use her real name for this report - was sitting in the back office of her cake shop when the quake hit.

"I couldn't tell which was the sound of the earthquake and which was the sound of the explosion," she told the BBC.

"All I could do was hold the chair I was sitting in as big jolts came one after another," she added, appearing to still be in shock.

"I didn't know what to feel; I couldn't even feel scared in such a situation. Even now I don't know what to feel, and I don't know how to explain."

Authorities and emergency responders mobilised quickly. Shortly after the tremor struck, Takaichi put 4,600 personnel on the ground to assist with recovery, and said that teams would work "tirelessly through the night" to assess and monitor the damage in affected areas.

Tens of thousands of people have experienced power and water outages across Kumamoto City and at least 45 medical facilities have been damaged.

The exterior walls of the 17th century Kumamoto Castle, in the city's centre, came toppling down in a plume of dust. The worship hall of the 19th Century Yatshushiro Shrine completely collapsed.

Kumamoto is no stranger to earthquakes - but locals have described this one as particularly strong

One local resident Michal Posan said there is "no water or food le