The death toll from a powerful earthquake that struck Japan's Kumamoto Prefecture this week has risen to 35, the prefectural government said Friday. The officials said the number includes fatal casualties still under investigation to determine whether they were caused by the quake. The strong tremor jolted Kumamoto Prefecture at around 4:27 p.m. local time on Tuesday, registering a magnitude of 7 – the highest on the Japanese seismic scale – in the hardest-hit areas and causing widespread damage across the prefecture.

CGTN Stringer recounted the scenes on the ground, saying there was an explosion in a mall about an hour after the quake and that the traffic was congested on her way home. Some of her furniture collapsed, and kitchen items were left broken. Water and power supplies were not affected, she noted, but some restaurants were still not in business.