Japan quake death toll reaches 23 as rescue window closes in Kumamoto

Two days after a magnitude 7.1 earthquake tore through the Kumamoto region of southwestern Japan, the fragile window of rescue was closing and the harder work of grief was beginning. At least 23 people were killed — in a crowded mall, at a paper factory, in homes that centuries of seismic wisdom had not been enough to protect — while tens of thousands found themselves without power, water, or a safe place to sleep. Japan, a nation that has long made peace with the trembling earth beneath it, was reminded once again that preparedness can narrow the margin of tragedy but never erase it. The seco