Japan earthquake death toll climbs as hopes wane for additional rescues

The death toll has grown to at least 34 people in southwestern Japan after a powerful earthquake on Tuesday, according to the prefectural government of Kumamoto, on Japan's southern main island of Kyushu, where the quake struck.

The disaster destroyed homes, triggered an explosion at a mall and caused a factory chimney to collapse. Two days later, hopes waned that anyone else would be rescued.

Although rescuers continued their search on Thursday to find additional survivors, time was running out, and fears remained the death toll would rise higher after nearly doubling from Wednesday's figure. Measured as a magnitude 6.8 by the U.S. Geological Survey, the quake also left 86 people injured, five of them seriously, the Kumamoto government said. How many people were still missing was unclear.

Survivors spoke about coming home and desperately pulling family members out of the wreckage. Some had suffered injuries and were rushed to the hospital.

Thousands of people spent another night at evacuation centers set up throughout the area in gymnasiums and other big spaces. Some homes were still without water or electricity, while others were afraid to go back.

Nearly 19,000 homes were still without electricity and more than 9,000 people were staying in the roughly 400 shelters, where power sources were being added to provide air conditioning.

Concerns were growing about illness, including from the sweltering heat. The Ministry of Environment sent out a heatstroke alert for the Kumamoto area, with temperatures expected to reach as high as 91 degrees Fahrenheit on Thursday.

In the town of Hikawa, one of the hardest-hit areas in Kumamoto, many residents are without water or electricity, or both, and some are staying inside their vehicles in parks or at the town hall parking lot.

At the front entrance of the town hall, officials delivered bottled water and packaged instant rice, while the Ground Self-Defense Force service members came with a trolley to provide fresh water.

Yoshiaki Nakashima, a 66-year-old resident who came with two bottles and his beloved pet dog to get water, said he is staying in a car because of his reluctance to stay at one of the three evacuation centers in the area. He also said he doesn't want to sleep at home because aftershocks made him feel uneasy.

"It's difficult to turn over while sleeping in a car," he said, but that living at a shelter is even more difficult.

Akiko Inazaki, another resident in her 30s, is living in a tent set up in the yard of her home, which has been without water and electricity since the quake. Inazaki, wh