New Delhi, Aug. 1 -- TOKYO - Three days after the ground shook beneath Kumamoto Prefecture, thousands of residents in southwestern Japan remain without running water as summer heat bears down and rescue teams continue pulling bodies from two sites that account for nearly half the confirmed deaths. The toll from the magnitude 7.1 earthquake that struck near Uki city on Tuesday has climbed to 34, Japanese authorities said Thursday, with six more people listed in serious condition.

The disaster's geography has made it particularly grim. Kumamoto, which suffered a devastating earthquake a decade ago that killed 275 people, is no stranger to seismic trauma. But the concentrated death toll at two specific points has extended rescue operations ...