Japan earthquake death toll
The official death toll from the earthquake that struck Japan on New Year's Day was 110 on Saturday, marking the start of the sixth day of the hunt for survivors among the damaged buildings.
22,000 houses in the Hokuriku region lost power and infrastructure as a result of the magnitude 7.6 earthquake that slammed the west coast. As more than 30,000 evacuees awaited help, rain hindered efforts to sort through the rubble for survivors.
By 4 p.m. on Saturday, there were 110 confirmed deaths, up from 94 the day before, according to the Ishikawa government website. Following the deadliest earthquake in almost eight years, more than 200 individuals are still unaccounted for.
As the death toll surpassed 100, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida declared, "I am keenly aware of the extent of the damage caused."
This number is the biggest since 276 earthquakes in Kumamoto's southwest in 2016—a total that also included deaths due to the events.
In order to expand rescue and relief operations, Kishida instructed government authorities to expedite emergency measures to repair trunk highways that were severely damaged during the earthquake.
Road closures are one of the challenges impeding the delivery of relief supplies, thus Japan's Self-Defence Forces plan to augment its rescue staff by 400 to 5,400.
In the prefecture of Ishikawa, mudslides, stones, and road fissures separated dozens of rural settlements. At least 14 locals in Wajima's Fukamimachi district were flown to safety by Self-Defence Forces helicopters, a Reuters witness reported.
Masao Mochizuki, 73, a freelance cameraman, waited in a long line outside a supermarket in the regional city of Wajima to purchase supplies on Thursday after it reopened.
But as his voice broke into tears of passion, Mochizuki continued, "I don't see the road to reconstruction just yet."
Sleeping in Cars
Some locals are choosing to sleep in their cars, while the displaced have crowded Wajima's evacuation centers in search of food, water, and other necessities.
Yutaka Obayashi, 75, and his wife Akiko, 73, lost their wooden home to the earthquakes on January 1. However, following a night spent in a community center's improvised evacuation area, they made the decision to return home and spend the night in their compact car.
As his spouse reclined in their car seat, Obayashi told Reuters, "People's eyes make me very nervous." "I simply don't enjoy having a lot of people around me."
Forecasters issued a warning about the possibility of significant snowfall in the area from late Sunday to early Monday, which might lead to landslides and other secondary calamities.
There are still tremors in the ground; early on Saturday, the town of Anamizu had an earthquake with a strength of five on the Japanese seismic scale.
Even though their home survived the earthquakes, Ayuko Noto, a priest at the 1,300-year-old Juzo temple in Wajima, has opted to spend the night in his car with his family. They do this in the hopes of shielding themselves from potential tsunami waves and other powerful earthquakes.
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