The earthquake in central Japan on January 1st killed 202 people. This is according to a new count released on Tuesday by authorities in Ishikawa department, where the disaster occurred.
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At the same time, the number of people about whom the authorities have not yet received news fell to 102 compared to 120 previously.
It is the deadliest natural disaster in Japan since huge floods in the west of the country in 2018 that killed more than 220 people. It is also the deadliest earthquake in the archipelago since the Kyushu island (southwest) earthquake in 2016, which killed nearly 300 people.
The very strong 7.5 magnitude earthquake and subsequent more than 1,200 tremors occurred on January 1 on the Noto Peninsula at the northern tip of Ishikawa Department, causing the collapse of numerous buildings, starting fires and damaging numerous infrastructures.
On Tuesday, a new major earthquake – measuring 6.0 according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) or 5.9 according to the American Geological Survey (USGS) – struck the same area, but its center was underwater, less than 60 km west of it Japanese island Sado.
The JMA did not issue a tsunami warning after this new strong earthquake.
More than a week after the disaster, more than 3,000 residents of the peninsula remain cut off from the world and waiting for help, slowed by rain, snow and the ongoing blockage of roads due to landslides.
More than 28,000 people still live in around 400 evacuation centers. Some of these shelters are overcrowded and lack food and heating.
Almost 60,000 households still do not have access to running water on Tuesday and almost 15,000 remain without electricity.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called on his ministers on Tuesday to “solve” the problem of still-isolated communities on the Noto Peninsula and to “perseverely continue rescue operations.”
The government is also trying to relocate evacuees to centers outside disaster areas where basic necessities are not a problem.