KUMAMOTO – The confirmed death toll following the earthquake on

July 28th in Kumamoto Prefecture has risen to 34, the prefectural

government said on Thursday. In response to the magnitude 7.1

earthquake that registered the maximum 7 on the Japanese seismic

intensity scale, about 400 evacuation shelters have been set up across the prefecture, housing approximately 10,000 people. According to the prefectural government and other sources, four more deaths were confirmed at the Aeon Mall Kumamoto shopping complex in Kashima, where an explosion occurred, bringing the total to seven. The confirmed death toll at Nippon Paper Industries Co.’s mill in Yatsushiro, where chimneys collapsed, had increased by three to eight as of 2 p.m. on July 30th. The cause of some of the other deaths include being trapped under collapsed buildings.