At least 242 people were missing Friday in central Japan where rescuers continue to search for survivors in the rubble, almost four days after the powerful New Year’s earthquake that left at least 92 dead. Two elderly women were able to be extracted alive from the rubble. But hopes of finding other survivors are dwindling after the expiration the day before of the 72-hour deadline, considered crucial for saving lives after a natural disaster, especially as the winter weather does not help, with snow expected on site on Sunday.
242 people still missing
The 7.5 magnitude tremor that occurred on Monday at 4:10 p.m. local time (07:10 GMT) was felt as far away as Tokyo, 300 km away. It shook the Noto Peninsula, a thin strip of land that extends about a hundred kilometers into the Sea of Japan, collapsing buildings and devastating roads. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Thursday described this earthquake, which was followed by numerous aftershocks, as “the most serious disaster” of Japan’s Reiwa era, which began in 2019 with the accession to the throne of Japanese Emperor Naruhito.
According to a new provisional report announced Friday morning by the department of Ishikawa, where the Noto peninsula is located, the disaster has already left 92 dead, and 242 people are still missing. 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 quays, homes and seaside roads.
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 further north. on the coast of the Sea of Japan.
Numerous human tragedies
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 relatives were all there and we were having fun,” Hiroyuki Hamatani, 53, told AFP amid the 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. More aftershocks could cause it to collapse, so I can’t go back right away,” he said. -he adds. 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.
And there are numerous human tragedies everywhere. Noriaki Yachi, 79, held back tears after his wife’s lifeless body was pulled from the rubble, saying: “My life with her was happy,” according to the Asahi daily. Located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, Japan is one of the countries with the most frequent earthquakes.
The Japanese 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.