Rescuers are still working to find survivors after the magnitude 6.8 earthquake hit Kumamoto prefecture on Kyushu island on Tuesday, causing widespread damage to houses and power lines. Several people died after part of a shopping center collapsed and an explosion ripped through the mall about an hour later. Thousands of displaced residents are now staying in evacuation centers, though the challenge is to keep them cool and hydrated as the region battles sweltering heat. Temperatures could reach 39C in the prefecture in the coming days, according to forecasts, with officials urging survivors and rescuers to take precautions against heatstroke. On Wednesday, Japan's defense minister Shinjiro Koizumi announced the delivery of three hundred air conditioners to Kumamoto, with 150 of the units bound for evacuation centers. Around 9,000 displaced residents have been put up in evacuation centers, and more than 30,000 households were out of power as of Wednesday. Yukiya Sanoue, who works at one of the centers, told the BBC that heat stroke was the biggest concern at his facility, which hosts about 1,000 people. About 30% of the people at his evacuation center are senior citizens. He said their electricity and water supplies had stopped since the earthquake, and the centers had been without air conditioning until Wednesday afternoon when they received a generator. Quite a few people are suffering from conditions similar to heatstroke, and several have been taken to hospital, he said. More than one hundred aftershocks have been recorded since the initial quake, and many have taken to sleeping in their cars for fear of further tremors. (BBC)