One week on, disaster response in Kumamoto shifts to helping survivors

A week after a devastating earthquake registering shindo 7, the highest level on the Japanese seismic intensity scale, struck Kumamoto Prefecture, the disaster response is shifting from search and rescue to stabilizing survivors’ lives and preventing disaster-related casualties.

But uneven conditions across evacuation centers, where shortages of water and other essentials have been compounded by scorching summer heat, are raising fears of heatstroke and blood clots, medical experts said.

The latest prefectural tally shows the death toll from the July 28 earthquake remained at 38 as of Tuesday afternoon, while 123 had been injured. One is suspected to have suffered from heatstroke while taking refuge inside a car as temperatures in the region soared.