People sit under the shade of trees on a hot day in front of collapsed stone walls at the ruins of Yatsushiro Castle in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto prefecture on August 3, 2026, after an earthquake struck southwestern Japan on July 28. (Photo: AFP)

Temperatures reached 40.3 degrees Celsius in Kumamoto City on Monday, breaking prefectural heat records and topping 40 degrees for the first time in the southwestern Japanese prefecture devastated by a powerful quake.

The extreme heat compounds the crisis for residents still recovering from the magnitude 7.1 earthquake that struck Kumamoto Prefecture last week. Elsewhere in the prefecture, the mercury hit 40.2 degrees Celsius in Kikuchi City and 39.8 degrees in Kosa Town, according to the weather agency.

The Japan Meteorological Agency urged people to take all possible precautions to prevent heatstroke, including avoiding outdoor activities such as cleanup work, and staying in a cool place during the day.

More than 8,500 people are still staying in evacuation shelters nearly a week after the earthquake, which registered up to 7, the highest level on Japan's seismic intensity scale, according to the prefectural government.

Authorities in Kumamoto said that as of Monday, 36 people had been confirmed dead as a direct result of the earthquake, with two other deaths still under investigation.