Japan quake toll reaches 13 as rescue efforts continue

A 7.1-magnitude earthquake killed at least 13 people near the southern Japanese city of Kumamoto, and rescuers are frantically searching for survivors trapped beneath the rubble, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said.

"Even now, there are people waiting to be rescued, and this is a race against time. We will marshal all available resources on the ground to save and rescue as many people as possible," Ms Takaichi told reporters at her office in Tokyo a day after the quake struck, raising the toll from three deaths reported earlier.

The quake knocked out power to thousands of homes and ruptured roads across the region.

Eight people were pulled from the rubble of a partially collapsed shopping mall near the city of Kumamoto that was torn apart by an apparent explosion about an hour after earthquake, among them two dead women in their 20s.