TOKYO, July 31 (Xinhua) -- "The earthquake struck so suddenly. When I looked up afterward, the smokestack was gone," 71-year-old Matsuoka recalled the moment the earthquake hit Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan.
Matsuoka told Xinhua on Wednesday in front of his small shop near the Nippon Paper factory in Yatsushiro City, where the magnitude 7.1 tremor caused a smokestack to collapse, killing nine people.
Following his gaze, a giant factory smokestack could be seen snapped in half. Dozens of fire engines remained parked around the site as search and rescue operations continued.
Matsuoka said that he did not dare return home after Tuesday's quake and planned to spend the night in his car, while a prolonged power outage left refrigerators in his store unusable, prompting him to distribute thawing frozen food to customers and neighbors.
The powerful earthquake struck Kumamoto Prefecture at around 4:27 p.m. local time Tuesday, registering an intensity of 7, the highest on the Japanese seismic scale, in the hardest-hit areas, causing widespread damage across the prefecture.
"The real difficulties may still lie ahead," Matsuoka said while standing beside shelves toppled by the quake.
Traveling from Yatsushiro to Uki, another city severely affected by the disaster, Xinhua reporters observed buckled and cracked roads, malfunctioning traffic signals and long queues at gas stations. Many people waiting for fuel said they intended to spend the night in their vehicles.
In the Ogawa district in Uki City, a civic activity center had been converted into an evacuation shelter after the earthquake, where nearly 500 evacuees, many of them elderly people and children, were staying.
Families sat on the floor surrounded by backpacks, clothing and bottled water. Some leaned against walls to rest, while others laid out sleeping mats in preparation for the night. More than a dozen portable toilets had been installed outside.
Shelter staff member Sakamoto told Xinhua that the facility remained without electricity until Wednesday morning and was currently relying on a mobile generator for power.
At around 5 p.m. local time on Wednesday, a long line formed outside the shelter as residents waited to receive relief supplies. Each person was given one bottle of drinking water and one rice ball.
Tanaka, a resident waiting in line, said the roof of his home had been damaged in the earthquake and his family was running short of food.
Next to the shelter, a barbershop bore clear signs of the disaster, with shelves overturned and belongings scattered across the floor. "Without water, there's nothing we can do," said Sugimoto, the shop owner.
Having experienced the devastating 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes, Sugimoto said he and his family evacuated much more quickly this time.
"It felt even stronger this time than the earthquake 10 years ago," he said. "I'm still afraid. I don't dare go back home because I'm worried another major quake could strike."
Kouki Shikai, vice speaker of the Uki City Assembly, told Xinhua that more people had evacuated to shelters this time than after the 2016 disaster.
He attributed the increase partly to improved public awareness of disaster preparedness, but also to the widespread power and water outages amid the extreme summer heat. Many residents sought refuge in shelters equipped with air conditioning.
According to Shikai, electricity is expected to be restored relatively soon, but repairing the water supply system may take considerably longer. Some homes have been rendered uninhabitable by the quake, and reconstruction could take two to three years or even longer.
As of Friday morning, the death toll from the Kumamoto earthquake has risen to 35, while more than 9,100 people remain in evacuation shelters, about 79,100 households are without running water and about 4,540 households remain without electricity, according to the prefectural government. Enditem
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