In Wajima, a coastal town 60 km north of Shika, an entire neighborhood of wooden houses was destroyed by the flames.
Taken from La Opinión
Japanese rescuers struggled on Wednesday (03.01.2024) to find survivors amid heavy rain and the risk of landslides, following the powerful earthquake that left at least 64 dead in Japan.
The magnitude 7.5 earthquake on January 1 shook Ishikawa Prefecture on the main island of Honshu, triggering tsunami waves, sparking a fire and destroying roads.
The Noto peninsula was the hardest hit, with several buildings consumed by fire and houses destroyed.
The regional government announced Tuesday night that 64 people were confirmed dead and 22 seriously injured.
But the death toll is feared to rise as workers search through the rubble amid bad weather and aftershocks.
More than 31,800 people were in shelters.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's government was scheduled to hold an emergency meeting Wednesday morning to discuss the response to the tragedy.
Kishida insisted on Wednesday night that "it is a race against time" given the number of people trapped in the collapsed buildings, according to NHK.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) issued a heavy rain warning for Noto, increasing the urgency of emergency operations. “Be on the lookout for landslides until Wednesday night,” the agency said.
Devastated Suzu City
In the coastal city of Suzu, Mayor Masuhiro Izumiya said that "almost no houses remain standing.".
“Nearly 90% of the houses (in the village) are completely or almost completely destroyed. The situation is truly catastrophic,” the mayor stated, as quoted by the TBS network.
A woman at a shelter in the town of Shika told TV Asahi that she hadn't been able to sleep because of the aftershocks. "I've been scared because we don't know when the next earthquake will be," she said.
Western Japan experienced another aftershock of magnitude 5.5 on Wednesday at about 10:54 a.m. local time (3:13 a.m. CET) at a depth of 10 km with its epicenter on the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture, just like the tremor on Monday, according to the JMA, which did not issue a tsunami warning.
Nearly 34,000 homes remained without electricity in Ishikawa Prefecture, according to the local energy company, while several cities were without water.
Bullet trains and highways reopened after thousands of people were stranded, some for up to 24 hours.
The earthquake had a magnitude of 7.5 according to the United States Geological Survey, while the JMA placed it at 7.6.
Long lines to get water and food
In the small town of Shika, hundreds of residents lined up outside the town hall on Tuesday hoping to receive the six liters of water allocated to each person, as the drinking water network, like in many other towns on the Noto peninsula, was damaged.
Many other inhabitants of the peninsula were less fortunate. Several buildings and houses collapsed as a result of the tremors.
In Wajima, a coastal town 60 km north of Shika, an entire neighborhood of wooden houses was destroyed by the flames.
In this rural peninsula nestled between the mountains and the sea, access for emergency services is difficult everywhere due to roads that are damaged, collapsed, or blocked by landslides.
An unusual calm reigns in the streets of the cities visited by AFP journalists, who also saw many vehicles stuck in cracks in the asphalt.
Residents are also lining up outside supermarkets to stock up, although some stores are closed due to lack of supplies. “We are closed today. We are evacuating,” reads a sign at the entrance of one of these establishments.
Cover photo: Rescuers prepare to begin operations at a collapsed building in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture. Credit: Kyodo News/AP Photo/Picture Alliance | Wikimedia Commons
