Tokyo, July 30 (QNA) - Japan's government announced Thursday that the death toll from the Kumamoto earthquake has risen to 28.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said that the latest figure includes those suspected to be quake-related, adding that the ongoing search and rescue operations are a race against time.

The search efforts encompass several sites, including a collapsed shopping mall and a damaged paper mill.

As of Wednesday evening, thousands of households were experiencing power or water outages, while the number of people residing in evacuation centers in Kumamoto Prefecture exceeded 10,000 by Thursday morning.

The earthquake, which struck Kumamoto Prefecture on Tuesday, measured 7.1 on the Richter scale and was followed by tsunami warnings for the Ariake and Yatsushiro Seas. (QNA)