Hundreds of people are still missing after a 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck off Japan’s west coast on January 1.
The death toll from the New Year’s Day earthquake in Japan has now passed 100, as rescue workers and residents comb through debris to retrieve bodies.
Hopes of finding survivors have dimmed after the country’s deadliest earthquake in nearly eight years. But officials said Saturday that more than 200 people were still missing.
A magnitude 7.6 earthquake off Japan’s west coast destroyed infrastructure, leaving 23,000 homes in the Hokuriku region without power.
Sixteen more deaths were confirmed in Wajima city and Anamizu city as of 1 p.m. (04:00 GMT) on Saturday, bringing the total to 110, Kyodo news agency reported, citing the Ishikawa prefectural government and other sources.
Wajima city recorded the highest number of deaths at 59, followed by Suzu with 23 deaths. The disaster resulted in more than 500 injuries, at least 27 of which were serious.
“I was resting on New Year’s Day when the earthquake struck. All my relatives were there and we were having fun,” Wajima resident Hiroyuki Hamatani told the AFP news agency amid burnt cars and fallen telegraph poles.
“The house is standing but it is no longer livable… I have no space in my mind to think about the future,” the 53-year-old man said.
Four of the world’s tectonic plates meet in Japan, making the country particularly vulnerable to earthquakes. It experiences hundreds of aftershocks each year, but most cause little or no damage.
The death toll from last week’s earthquake is the highest since 2016, when an earthquake in Kumamoto, southwestern Japan, killed 276 people.
In 2011, a magnitude 9 undersea earthquake caused a massive tsunami, wiping out entire communities and causing a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant. At least 18,500 people died.
Relief work continues
Thousands of troops were flying and trucking water, food and medicine to more than 32,000 people, who were delivered to auditoriums, schools and other facilities.
However, relief supplies have been hampered due to road disruptions and other problems.
“We are doing our best to conduct rescue operations in isolated villages… However, the reality is that the isolation has not been resolved to the extent we would like,” Ishikawa Governor Hiroshi Hase said Friday. “
The Yomiuri newspaper reported more than 100 landslides in the area, blocking some essential roads.
While power is slowly returning to the coast, water supplies remain scarce, leaving emergency water systems damaged.
In an unusual gesture from nearby North Korea, leader Kim Jong Un sent a message of condolence to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the Korean Central News Agency reported Saturday.
