Rescuers search for the missing after Japan earthquake as death toll rises to 13

KUMAMOTO, Japan (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said 13 people have been found dead after a powerful quake shook part of southwestern Japan and rescue work was continuing Wednesday morning for the missing.

A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck the Kumamoto area on the southern main island of Kyushu late Tuesday afternoon.

“There are people who are still waiting to be rescued, and it’s a race against time,” Takaichi said. “We will go all out to find and rescue as many people as we can.”

Takaichi offered her condolences to the victims and sympathy to their relatives, while urging those affected by the quake to take care of themselves under the hot weather.

Japan's Self Defense Forces joined rescue workers in the search and rescue operations at a badly damaged shopping mall and helped deliver water and transfer the patients. The government is also preparing to deliver delivering food and other necessities to the hard-hit areas, she said.

The quake collapsed the second floor of the Aeon Mall in Kashima Town, trapping people, according to the fire department in the prefectural capital of Kumamoto. Prefectural officials said they are investigating an explosion reportedly from a gas leak.

A chimney collapsed at the Nippon Paper Industries Co.’s Yatsushiro factory, trapping people under the debris, the Kumamoto emergency team said. As of Wednesday, seven people were feared still trapped. Two survivors and two bodies were removed, officials said.

The affected area is about 900 kilometers (540 miles) southwest of Tokyo.

The Nuclear Regulation Authority said no abnormalities were found at three nearby nuclear power plants.

Kyodo News said a hospital in the city of Yatsushiro took in about 40 people with injuries and about 50 others were taken to a hospital in Kumamoto city.

Many major manufacturers in Kyushu suspended operations Tuesday but found no major damage and planned to resume work Wednesday.

The runway at Aso Kumamoto Airport was closed, with no immediate word on when it would resume operations.

A train derailed and fell on its side at Yatsushiro station, and stone walls were damaged at Kumamoto Castle, a main tourist destination that was badly damaged in the 2016 quake and is still being repaired, Kyodo said.

“The shaking reminded me of the Kumamoto quake (10 years ago) and I was frightened,” said Hiroki Shimoda, an official at Mifune town hall, who saw roof tiles of nearby homes crash to the ground. Kumamoto was hit with a deadly quake in 2016 that killed at least 50 people.

Shinji Kiyomoto with the Japan Meteorological Agency urged residents to be cautious over the next two to three days due to potential aftershocks.

Associated Press writer Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo contributed to this report.

A collapsed bridge is seen following an earthquake in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto prefecture, Wednesday, July 29, 2026. (Juntaro Yokoyama/Kyodo News via AP)

The roof and wall of a building are seen fallen, a day after an earthquake in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto prefecture, Wednesday, July 29, 2026.(Yu Nakajima/Kyodo News via AP)

A visitor looks at the fallen roofs of the Yatsuhiro Shrine, a day after an earthquake in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto prefecture, Wednesday, July 29, 2026.(Juntaro Yokoyama/Kyodo News via AP)

AEON Mall, which was destroyed by an explosion following an earthquake, is seen in Kashima, Kumamoto prefecture, southern Japan, Tuesday, July 28, 2026.(Kotaro Ueda/Kyodo News via AP)

People walk a dog past a building collapsed by an earthquake in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto prefecture, Wednesday, July 29, 2026.(Juntaro Yokoyama/Kyodo News via AP)

This aerial image shows AEON Mall, which was destroyed by an explosion following an earthquake, in Kashima, Kumamoto Prefecture, on Wednesday, July 29, 2026. (Naoki Hiraoka/Kyodo News via AP)

A vehicle passes by collapsed houses after an earthquake in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto prefecture, Wednesday, July 29, 2026.(Juntaro Yokoyama/Kyodo News via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military said Tuesday that it knocked down an Iranian missile barrage and worked with Saudi Arabia's forces to strike sites in Iraq that Tehran-backed militias have used to launch attacks in recent days, shattering a brief pause in fighting.

All Iranian missiles launched against American forces in the Middle East were intercepted, U.S. Central Command said, adding that they “remain vigilant and at a high state of readiness.” In announcing the strikes in Iraq, the U.S. warned that further attacks on American troops or Saudi Arabia’s energy infrastructure risked additional action.

The United States and Iran had experienced a period of calm, during which neither announced attacks for days following weeks of escalation over the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf waterway and narrow chokepoint through which 20% of the world’s traded oil normally flows.

There was no immediate comment from Tehran on the U.S. military statement or the strikes.

The fighting flared at the end of a month packed with multiple pressure points on President Donald Trump. In recent weeks, four U.S. troops died during the fighting, while the Pentagon asked an increasingly skeptical Congress for money to cover the conflict’s ballooning costs.

High gasoline prices tied to the choked-off Strait of Hormuz are contributing to fears that Republicans are vulnerable in November’s midterm elections. The U.S. House narrowly passed a resolution to halt military action in Iran last week, sending another warning to Trump that reflects the war’s unpopularity with many Americans.

Trump has repeatedly retreated from threats to knock out bridges, power plants and other infrastructure but he told Fox News Channel earlier Tuesday that Iran knows he’ll “finish the job” if its leaders don’t make a deal to end the war.

Iran launched its ballistic missile attack before American and Saudi forces carried out strikes in Iraq, according to a U.S. official, who stressed that the two attacks were not connected. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to detail sensitive military operations.

“U.S. and Saudi fighter aircraft struck multiple terrorist logistics and weapons sites across eastern Iraq in a strong response to over 30 IRGC-directed aerial drone attacks in the last 72 hours,” U.S. Central Command said, using an acronym for Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

It said the Revolutionary Guard “and its terrorist proxies must cease these attacks to avoid further U.S. military response.”

The Saudi Defense Ministry acknowledged the strikes in a post on social media, warning that “the Kingdom emphasizes that it does not seek escalation but will respond to any aggression it faces.”

Saudi Arabia said Tuesday that it shot down drones fired by Iran-backed militias in Iraq for a second day, while Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed to have forced a Saudi oil tanker to turn around as part of their self-styled blockade of the kingdom.

The kingdom's Defense Ministry said air defenses intercepted and destroyed several drones that had tried to target petroleum facilities in the nation's eastern region.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi ordered security agencies to investigate after the Saudis alleged a similar attack on Monday. The Iraqi military said the country is committed to “preventing Iraqi territory from being used as a route or launching point for any attack targeting brotherly or friendly countries.”

The Iraqi militias have denied any role in the drone attacks. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed armed groups, called the Saudi claims “fabrications" and implied that Monday's attacks were carried out by the Houthis, who had themselves claimed to have attacked Saudi oil facilities.

The Houthis claimed to have fired missiles at the Saudi oil tanker NCC Ghazal, forcing it to turn back. Last week, they announced a blockade of Saudi shipping, putting another key Middle Eastern waterway — through the Bab el-Mandeb strait leading to the Red Sea — at risk.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center said a tanker reported hearing explosions while traveling in the southern Red Sea. It did not name the tanker but said the crew and vessel were safe.

The rebels fired on at least one Saudi tanker in the Red Sea last week.

Iran and the U.S. had paused their fighting over the weekend, though tensions remained high even as officials said mediators achieved progress in getting the two sides back to negotiations.

Iran said earlier Tuesday that U.S. strikes during an earlier period of escalation destroyed an airport and a marine control tower, and caused damage to 12 bridges and two tunnels, among other infrastructure.

Iran had effectively closed the strait when the war began by firing at freighters and tankers off its coast or threatening them. Following the signing of an interim ceasefire deal in June, a battle for control over the strait erupted.

Iran demanded that ships use a route near its coastline and said it can potentially charge fees. Ships were increasingly navigating a southern route along the coast of Oman under a U.S. overwatch operation when Iran attacked some vessels.

The new strikes came on the same day Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Trump at the White House for the first time since the two launched the war against Iran on Feb. 28. Israel has been notably absent from the recent fighting with the Islamic Republic.

Netanyahu said it was an “excellent” meeting, and Trump called it “very good,” noting that “many important subjects were discussed.”

Meanwhile, the U.S. ability to intercept Iran’s incoming strikes has become an increasingly salient issue as lawmakers, members of the military and experts raise concerns over the nation’s diminishing stockpiles of missile interceptors.

Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s chief spokesperson, pushed back on those concerns, saying the military “has everything it needs to execute at the time and place of the president’s choosing.”

Associated Press writers Darlene Superville in Washington and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

An Iranian pro-government demonstrator waves her country's flag in a gathering at a square in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, July 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A demonstrator prays as he holds an Iranian flag in a pro-government gathering at a square in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, July 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A man walks past anti-U.S. graffiti on the wall of the British Embassy in Tehran, Iran, Monday, July 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Small boats line the shore as cargo ships and other commercial vessels appear anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Monday, July 27, 2026. (Razieh Poudat/ISNA via AP)

Young men ride motorcycles along the shore as a tractor pulls equipment from the water and commercial vessels appear anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Monday, July 27, 2026. (Razieh Poudat/ISNA via AP)