At least 242 people went missing in central Japan on Friday, nearly four days after a powerful New Year’s earthquake left at least 92 dead, local authorities announced.
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The 7.5 magnitude earthquake, felt as far away as Tokyo, 300 kilometers away, shook the Noto peninsula in the Ishikawa department, a narrow strip of land that extends for a hundred kilometers into the Sea of Japan, causing the collapse buildings and devastating streets.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Thursday called this earthquake “the most serious disaster” of the Reiwa era, which began in 2019 with the accession to the throne of the current Japanese emperor.
The 72-hour window, considered crucial for finding survivors after a natural disaster, closed Thursday, and Ishikawa Gov. Hiroshi Hase said he feared “the survival rate of those in need of rescue will not suddenly decline.
The port city of Wajima on the Noto Peninsula was one of the hardest hit and a pungent smell still lingers inside, while faint columns of smoke are still visible after the massive fire that destroyed hundreds of buildings following the earthquake.
AFP
“I was relaxing on New Year’s Day when the earthquake happened. My relatives were all there and we were having fun,” Hiroyuki Hamatani, 53, told AFP, amid charred cars, destroyed buildings and fallen telegraph poles.
AFP
“I have no space in my mind to think about the future. In my house everything is scattered. “More aftershocks could bring it down, so I can’t go back right away,” she added.
Located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, Japan is one of the countries with the most frequent earthquakes.
AFP
The Japanese archipelago is haunted by the memory of the terrible 9.0 magnitude earthquake followed by a gigantic tsunami in March 2011 on the northeastern coast, a disaster that left around 20,000 people dead or missing.
This disaster also led to the Fukushima nuclear accident, the worst since Chernobyl in 1986.
2024-01-05 02:21:53
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