Japan mourns dozens of deaths in series of earthquakes
Japan experiences several strong quakes: There are fatalities and a lot of damage. There is also a risk of tsunami at times. The local meteorological authority warns of further quakes in the course of the week.
The death toll from a series of strong earthquakes on the west coast of Japan has risen further. Almost 50 people were killed in the hard-hit Ishikawa prefecture, the authorities announced. A further 14 people were seriously injured. Half of the deaths were recorded in the port city of Wajima on the Noto peninsula. A huge fire had destroyed numerous houses there. The meteorological authority lifted a tsunami warning issued the previous day for the entire west coast of Japan. Meanwhile, emergency services are searching for survivors.
Around 100,000 people were urged to seek safety during the New Year celebrations. Numerous houses collapsed or fell victim to fires, roads were torn up and tens of thousands of households lost power. In the hard-hit town of Wajima in Ishikawa, more than 200 homes and stores burned down, according to local media reports. Low flames were still blazing in places on Tuesday morning and firefighters were still in action. Thick smoke hung over the area. Other houses had collapsed or were badly damaged. Around 1,000 people were accommodated at an airbase in Wajima and provided with blankets, water and food, the government announced.
"The search and rescue of people affected by the quake is a battle against time," said Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at a meeting of the crisis management team on Tuesday. More than 46,000 people in the prefectures and Toyama are still being evacuated. Thousands of army personnel, firefighters and police officers from across the country have been dispatched to the worst-hit area on the relatively remote Noto Peninsula. However, rescue work is being hampered by badly damaged and blocked roads. One of the airports in the region had to be closed due to cracks in the runway.
Several tidal waves hit Hokkaido's coast
Meanwhile, the series of quakes continued. A particularly strong earthquake had reached a magnitude of 7.6 the day before. The epicenter was in the Noto Peninsula area of Ishikawa Prefecture. The weather authority then issued a strong warning for Ishikawa of a possible five-metre tsunami, which was later lifted. Lesser tsunami warnings remained in place for all other coastal regions in the west.
The quake was felt from Hokkaido in northern Japan to the southwestern main island of Kyushu. Several tidal waves of around one meter in height hit the coast. At dawn on Tuesday, thick layers of brown mud lay on the roads in some places. The tremors triggered landslides and trees fell onto roads. Several boats lay keel up in harbor basins. There were reports of burst water pipes. The government in Tokyo set up a crisis team.
The meteorological authority warned of further strong quakes during the week, especially in the first two or three days after the particularly severe tremor on New Year's Day. In March 2011, a magnitude 9 quake triggered a massive tsunami that devastated large areas in the north-east of the country and killed around 20,000 people. A meltdown occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The Far Eastern island kingdom of Japan is one of the most quake-prone countries in the world.
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Source: www.ntv.de
