2024-01-05 06:48:25
A dog helps search for earthquake survivors in the town of Wajima, Japan, January 5, 2024. TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA / AFP
Good news is scarce in Japan after the powerful earthquake that hit the center of the country on New Year’s Day. Two elderly women were able to be pulled alive from the rubble, but hopes of finding other survivors are dwindling after the The expiration of the 72-hour deadline, considered crucial for saving lives after a natural disaster.
At least 92 people have died and 242 others are missing, according to a new provisional report announced Friday January 5 in the morning by the department of Ishikawa, where the Noto peninsula is located, this thin strip of land which juts out from around a hundred kilometers in the Sea of Japan, shaken Monday by a 7.5 magnitude tremor, felt as far away as Tokyo, 300 km further.
At least 330 people were also injured in the earthquake and the hundreds of aftershocks that followed. A tsunami also hit the coast, and waves more than a meter high swept away the quays, homes and seaside roads. Rescuers continue their searches in the midst of winter weather that does not not helping, with snow expected in place on Sunday.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Thursday described this earthquake as « plus grave catastrophe » of the Japanese Reiwa era, which began in 2019 with the accession to the throne of Japanese Emperor Naruhito.
Read also: In Japan, 84 dead and dozens missing after the New Year earthquake
Pungent odor
Several hundred people whose homes were destroyed are still housed in evacuation centers. Nearly 30,000 homes were still without electricity on Friday morning in the Ishikawa department, and around 90,000 homes did not have access to running water in Ishikawa and in the Toyama and Niigata departments, located more to the north on the coast of the Sea of Japan.
The port town of Wajima on the Noto Peninsula was one of the worst hit, and a pungent smell still hangs there, while faint columns of smoke are still visible after the massive fire that destroyed hundreds of buildings following the earthquake.
“I was relaxing on New Year’s Day when the earthquake happened. My loved ones were all there and we were having fun”told Agence France-Presse Hiroyuki Hamatani, 53, among charred cars, destroyed buildings and fallen telegraph poles. “I have no room in my mind to think about the future. Everything is scattered in my house. Any more aftershocks might make her collapse, so I can’t go back right away.”he added.
In Suzu, at the tip of the peninsula, mainly fishing boats were sunk or literally washed ashore by the tsunami waves, which also reportedly swept away a person.
Read also: Japan: the damage of the New Year’s earthquake seen from the sky
#hope #finding #survivors #dwindles #Years #earthquake #left #dead #missing