TOKYO – Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Thursday that the death toll from the recent powerful earthquake in Kumamoto Prefecture has risen to 30.

Speaking at a meeting of the government's emergency disaster management headquarters, Takaichi said the figure, as of 12:30 pm local time, included people whose deaths are still under investigation to determine whether they were directly related to the 7.1-magnitude tremor.

An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.1 struck Kumamoto Prefecture at 4:27 pm local time on Tuesday. Authorities continue rescue and relief operations in the southwestern prefecture as they assess the extent of damage caused by Tuesday's earthquake. 

At a disaster response headquarters meeting held at 9:30 am local time, Kumamoto Prefecture Government officials said at least one person remains missing as search and rescue operations continue, public broadcaster NHK reported.

According to prefectural officials, 11 people have been rescued so far from Aeon Mall Kumamoto in the town of Kashima, where an explosion occurred after the 7.1-magnitude earthquake.

Of the rescued, five were confirmed dead and one remains in cardiac arrest, while another five sustained injuries. Rescue teams are continuing efforts to free one person who remains trapped, the report said.

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Meanwhile, at the Nippon Paper factory in Yatsushiro city, where the earthquake caused a smokestack to collapse, 10 people have been rescued. Eight of them were confirmed dead and two were injured, according to the officials, while one person remains unaccounted for at the site.