Japan quake toll hits 28 as survivors struggle in heat

Japanese emergency workers were battling to rescue any remaining survivors from a devastated shopping centre, as the death toll from a major earthquake hit 28 and thousands sweltered in punishing heat.

YATSUSHIRO, Japan - Rescuers frantically searched for ‌survivors on Wednesday, a day after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake shook southern Japan, killing at least 13 people, knocking out power to thousands of homes and rupturing roads across the region.

Some of the most serious damage was at the Aeon Mall in the city of Kashima.

Dozens more remain trapped underneath the rubble as authorities race against the clock to save as many people as possible during the critical 72 hour rescue period. The tremor is the most powerful to hit the region in 10 years since a 7.0 magnitude quake recorded in 2016.