Series of quakes on Japan's west coast claim 30 lives so far

Earthquake - Series of quakes on Japan's west coast claim 30 lives so far

The death toll from a series of strong earthquakes on the west coast of Japan has risen to at least 30. According to the authorities in the particularly affected prefecture of Ishikawa on Tuesday, 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. A warning issued the previous day for the entire west coast of Japan for tsunami tidal waves was lifted by the meteorological authority in the morning (local time). The tremors caused considerable damage. Around 100,000 people were urged to seek safety during the New Year celebrations.

A first particularly strong earthquake reached a magnitude of 7.6 shortly before nightfall on Monday afternoon. The epicenter was in the Noto peninsula area of Ishikawa. At dawn, the emergency services tried to assess the full extent of the destruction and search for survivors. "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 had to stay away from the prefectures and Toyama on Tuesday following evacuations.

Damage makes the work of the emergency services more difficult

Thousands of army personnel, firefighters and police officers from all over the country were sent to the worst affected area on the relatively remote Noto peninsula. However, rescue work was hampered by badly damaged and blocked roads. One of the airports in the region had to be closed due to cracks in the runway. Numerous houses collapsed or fell victim to fires, roads were torn up and tens of thousands of households lost power.

Several people suffered injuries. In the hard-hit town of Wajima in Ishikawa, more than 200 homes and stores caught fire the day before, 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. Around 1,000 people were accommodated at an airbase in Wajima and provided with blankets, water and food, the government announced. Footage from the NHK television station showed a seven-storey building in Wajima lying on its side.

Earthquake in Japan continues

While the emergency services assessed the full extent of the destruction and began initial clean-up operations, the series of quakes continued. The weather authority had issued a strong warning for Ishikawa the day before, warning of a possible five-meter-high tsunami, which was later lifted. Lower tsunami warnings were initially still in place for all other coastal regions in the west. Several tidal waves of around one meter in height hit the coast. At daybreak 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 and the armed forces were called in to provide disaster relief in Ishikawa. 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 super-GAU occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The Far Eastern island kingdom of Japan is one of the countries in the world most at risk from earthquakes.