TOKYO, July 30. /TASS/. The death toll from the powerful earthquake in Japan’s Kumamoto Prefecture has risen to 28, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said.

"This figure includes those whose deaths are thought to be linked to the aftermath of the earthquake," he said.

A magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit the Kumamoto Prefecture area of the island of Kyushu, leaving many residential houses without electricity, damaging houses, roads, and bridges.