A nonagenarian was able to be pulled out alive from the rubble of the earthquake which left at least 128 dead in central Japan, according to a new count, but rescue operations were made more difficult on Sunday by snowfall. The 7.5 magnitude earthquake which devastated the Noto Peninsula on January 1, on the western coast of the island of Honshu, the largest in the archipelago, also left 560 injured and 195 people remain missing. , according to a new report announced Sunday afternoon by local authorities.
On Saturday, a woman in her nineties was found alive after spending five days under the debris of her collapsed house in Suzu, at the tip of the peninsula bordering the Sea of Japan. She was able to answer questions clearly when she was rescued and taken to a hospital for treatment, public broadcaster NHK said. “Hold on!” rescuers shouted at him in the rain, in a video shot by police and broadcast by local media. “Everything will be fine!”, “stay positive”.
A Tokyo police spokesperson confirmed to AFP that the rescue was carried out by police officers from Tokyo and Fukuoka (southwest), without giving further details.
“I want them to be alive”
Many were less fortunate: in the town of Anamizu, also on the peninsula, a 52-year-old man who learned of the deaths of his 21-year-old son and his in-laws was waiting for news of other members of his family. “I want them to be alive. It is unthinkable that I am left alone,” he told NHK. In the city, an AFP photographer saw rescuers dressed in orange and blue raincoats carrying the body of a landslide victim, covered with a blue tarpaulin.
The earthquake, followed by hundreds of aftershocks, caused the collapse of buildings and roads, a thousand landslides and fires, particularly in Wajima, where authorities believe many residents are still under the rubble. The tremor, felt as far away as Tokyo, 300 kilometers away, also triggered a tsunami, with waves more than a meter high.
Rescuers are continuing their efforts to search for people missing or isolated due to roads damaged by the earthquake, and to deliver food and equipment to the victims. Some 29,000 people were sheltering in 404 government shelters on Sunday, according to the Ishikawa department.
Rain and heavy snow expected locally
The situation further worsened with the deterioration of weather conditions on Sunday, which is expected to continue on Monday, with rain and heavy snowfall expected locally. The Japanese weather agency has warned of the risks of hypothermia. New landslides due to precipitation are feared and icy conditions are expected to further complicate traffic on roads damaged by the earthquake.
Due to poor road conditions, the Japan Self-Defense Forces sent a small group of soldiers on foot to each of the isolated communities and deployed helicopters, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told NHK on Sunday. “In parallel with these efforts, it is necessary to improve the accommodation and health conditions of people affected by the disaster”, because this situation is expected to prolong, added Fumio Kishida, estimating that “sustained and long-term efforts breath” would be necessary to rebuild devastated areas.
Some 18,000 homes remained without electricity in Ishikawa on Sunday evening and more than 66,000 homes were without water. This earthquake is the first to cause the death of more than 100 people in Japan since the devastating Kumamoto earthquake (southwest) which killed 276 people in 2016. Located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, Japan is the one of the countries where earthquakes are most frequent.
The archipelago is haunted by the memory of the terrible 9.0 magnitude earthquake followed by a giant tsunami in March 2011 on its northeastern coasts, a disaster which left some 20,000 people dead or missing. This disaster also led to the Fukushima nuclear accident, the most serious since Chernobyl in 1986.