“What a terrible way to start the year,” one Shika resident said as they waited in queue for water.
More than 40 people were killed when a 7.6-magnitude earthquake hit Japan on New Year’s Day. Rescuers are working hard against the clock and strong aftershocks on Tuesday to find survivors.
The earthquake in Ishikawa prefecture sent over-a-meter-high tsunami waves that destroyed buildings, started a big fire, and tore roads apart.
On Tuesday, the damage to the Noto Peninsula was clear: buildings were on fire and houses were flattened, and there was more damage along the coast.
A person in the town of Shika who was in queue with hundreds of other people for water said, “It was such a strong jolt.” “What a terrible way to start the year.”
Thousands of soldiers, firefighters, and police officers have been sent to the devastated Noto peninsula in Ishikawa prefecture to help with rescue efforts, but roads are still broken, and it’s hard to tell how bad the damage really is.
A lot of the trains, ferries, and planes that go into the area have been stopped. Damage to the runway, terminal, and access roads at Noto airport has caused it to close. According to Japan’s public station NHK, 500 people are stuck in their cars in the parking lot.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said at an emergency disaster meeting on Tuesday, “The search and rescue of those affected by the quake is a battle against time.” He also said that helicopter surveys had found many fires and a lot of damage to buildings and infrastructure.
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On Monday night, the Japanese government sent about 100,000 people to sports rooms and school gyms as an evacuation.
The local energy company said that almost 45,000 homes in the area were without power overnight because of the cold weather. A lot of towns didn’t have running water.
So far, 48 people have died in Ishikawa because of the earthquake. Fifteen of those deaths happened in Wajima, a port city close to the centre of the quake that was hit hard.
Earlier, the government said 30 people had died.
As of today, firefighters are fighting fires in several towns and trying to free more people who are trapped in buildings that have fallen down.
The Japan Meteorological Agency says that since the first quake on Monday, more than 140 shakes have been recorded. They also say that more strong tsunamis could happen in the next few days.
Japan has hundreds of earthquakes every year, and most of them don’t do any damage. Since 2018, the number of earthquakes in the Noto Peninsula region has been slowly rising.
In 2011, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake off the northeastern coast of Japan set off a wave that killed or injured over 18,500 people and flooded the Fukushima nuclear plant, making it one of the worst nuclear disasters in history.
However, Japan’s nuclear safety board said that after Monday’s earthquake, there were no reports of problems at the Shika atomic power plant in Ishikawa or at any other plants.
In Washington, DC, US President Joe Biden was told about the earthquake on Monday and offered Japan “any necessary assistance” to deal with the damage.
“Solidarity” was shown by French President Emmanuel Macron, and sympathy and help were offered by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
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