Japan’s New Year’s Day earthquake till now has killed almost 161 till now, authorities said Monday as snow made rescue efforts tougher. The number of people unaccounted for fell to 103 from 195, authorities in the central Ishikawa region informed.
The earthquake sparked a major fire and triggered tsunami waves over a meter high. Rescuers from all over Japan worked diligently as roads were cut off due to the quake and caused almost 1,000 landslides causing blockade for aid vehicles.
Rescue work became more difficult due to the snow. A woman in her 90s survived five days under the wreckage of a collapsed house in the city of Suzu on the hard-hit Noto Peninsula before being saved on Saturday, radiating glimpse of hope in the crisis moment.
The extreme weather conditions has made it more difficult for more than 28,800 people who are currently seeking refuge in 404 government shelters.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in an interview that first priority is rescuing people stuck under the rubble. He also said that small groups of troops were sent by the military to the isolated regions.
Japan’s location on the tectonic makes it vulnerable to frequent earthquakes. The last time the country reeled under such a dangerous natural calamity was in 2011, when a Tsunami killed almost 18500 people and caused a nuclear catastrophe at the Fukushima plant.
Comments