The death toll from the Kumamoto earthquake in Japan rose to 28, the country's top government spokesperson said on Thursday.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told a press conference that the figure, as of 6:30 a.m. local time, includes people whose deaths are still under investigation to determine whether they were related to the powerful quake. The fatalities followed a series of earthquakes that struck Japan's southwestern Kyushu region.