Wajima, Japan — A 90-year-old woman was pulled alive from a collapsed house in western Japan late Saturday, 124 hours after a major earthquake struck the region, killing at least 126 people, collapsing buildings and causing landslides.
The woman from Suzu city, Ishikawa Prefecture, lived for more than five days after a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck the area on Monday. Nationally broadcast news footage shows helmeted rescue workers covering the area of view with blue plastic, and the woman is not visible.
Chances of survival decrease after the first 72 hours. Several other dramatic rescues have been reported over the past few days as soldiers, firefighters and others joined the massive effort.
The 126 dead included a 5-year-old boy who was recovering from injuries sustained after falling into boiling water during Monday’s 7.6-magnitude earthquake. His condition suddenly deteriorated and he died on Friday, according to Ishikawa Prefecture, the worst-hit region.
The aftershocks threaten to raze more homes and block vital roads to transport relief supplies. Officials warned that already cracked roads could collapse completely. This danger was increasing due to the possibility of rain and snowfall on night and Sunday.
Wajima city recorded the highest number of deaths at 69, followed by Suzu with 38 deaths. More than 500 people were injured, at least 27 of them seriously.
Due to the earthquake, the roofs became useless and scattered on the streets and everything below them was destroyed. The roads became crooked like rubber. A fire in Wajima reduced a neighborhood to ashes.
More than 200 people are still missing, although the number has fluctuated. Eleven people were reported trapped under two collapsed houses in Anamizu.
For Shiro Kokuda, 76, the house in Wajima where he grew up was saved, but a nearby temple caught fire and he was still searching for his friends at evacuation centres.
“It’s been really tough,” he said.
Japan is one of the fastest aging societies in the world. The population in Ishikawa and surrounding areas has decreased over the years. A fragile economy centered on crafts and tourism is now more endangered than ever.
In an unusual gesture from nearby North Korea, leader Kim Jong Un sent a message of condolence to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the official Korean Central News Agency reported Saturday.
Japan had earlier received messages from United States President Joe Biden and other allies expressing sympathy and promising assistance.
Japanese government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters that Japan was grateful for all the messages, including those from North Korea. Hayashi said the last time Japan received a message of condolence from North Korea for a disaster was in 1995.
Along the coast of Japan, power was slowly being restored, but water was still in short supply. Emergency water systems were also damaged.
Thousands of troops were flying and delivering water, food and medicine to more than 30,000 people, who were evacuated to auditoriums, schools and other facilities.
The nationally circulated Yomiuri newspaper reported that its aerial study had found more than 100 landslides in the area, some of which had blocked lifeline roads. Some communities remained isolated and waiting for aid.
“I hope the city will recover, and I hope people won’t leave, and they will stay here to work hard for recovery,” said Seizo Shinbo, a seafood merchant who sells noodles, canned goods and Was stocking up on rice balls, said. ,
“There is no food. there is no water. And the worst is gas. People are still in kilometre-long lines,” Shinbo said.
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Kageyama reported from Tokyo. Associated Press writer Hyung-Jin Kim in Seoul, South Korea contributed to this report.
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Yuri Kageyama is on X: https://twitter.com/yurikageyama
