Japan earthquake death toll hits 18 as teams race to find people missing in damaged mall and paper factory

A powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck the Kumamoto area in southwestern Japan a day earlier, killing at least 18 people and injuring at least 62, including six seriously, according to the prefectural government. Soldiers and emergency workers searched Wednesday for people trapped in a badly damaged mall in Kashima city and in collapsed homes. The U.S. Geological Survey measured the quake at magnitude 6.8. At Aeon Mall, about 3,000 customers were evacuated to a parking lot before a gas explosion occurred in another part of the building, where some employees were still working. The second floor collapsed, and three missing employees were reported; three deaths were confirmed from the blast. In nearby Yatsushiro, a chimney collapse at a Nippon Paper Industries factory killed five and left seven rescued, with four still believed trapped. Nearly 34,900 homes were without electricity and about 15,000 lacked running water.