Aftershocks threatened to bury more homes and block roads crucial for aid deliveries, while the death toll from the earthquakes that shook Japan's west coast last week rose to 126 on Saturday.
Among the dead was a five-year-old boy who had just recovered from injuries after boiling water was poured on him during Monday's 7.6-magnitude earthquake. His condition suddenly deteriorated and he died on Friday, according to Ishikawa Prefecture, the hardest-hit region.
Officials warned that roads already cracked by the dozens of earthquakes that continue to rock the area could collapse completely. This risk increased as rain and snow were expected overnight and Sunday.
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The death toll rose to 126 on Saturday. The city of Wajima recorded the most deaths with 69, followed by Suzu with 38. More than 500 people were injured, at least 27 of them seriously.
The earthquakes left roofs on the streets and everything underneath was leveled. The streets were warped like rubber. A fire reduced a neighborhood in Wajima to rubble.
More than 200 people were still missing, although the number fluctuated. Eleven people were reportedly trapped under two collapsed houses in Anamizu.
A 90-year-old woman was pulled alive from the rubble of a collapsed house in western Japan late Saturday. The woman in the city of Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, had survived for more than five days after the earthquake that hit the area on Monday. Nationally broadcast news footage showed helmeted emergency workers covering the area with blue plastic, but the woman was not visible.
Damaged buildings are seen in Wajima on the Noto Peninsula overlooking the Sea of Japan, northwest of Tokyo, Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024, after Monday's deadly earthquake. Hiro Komae / AP
For Shiro Kokuda, 76, the house in Wajima where he grew up was spared, but a nearby temple went up in flames and he was still searching for his friends in evacuation centers.
“It was really hard,” he said.
Japan is one of the fastest aging societies in the world. The population in Ishikawa and surrounding areas has declined over the years. A fragile economy centered on crafts and tourism was now more at risk than ever.
In an unusual gesture from nearby North Korea, leader Kim Jong Un sent a message of condolence to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the official Korean Central News Agency reported Saturday.
Japan previously received messages of sympathy and promises of aid from President Joe Biden and other allies.
Japanese government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters that Japan was grateful for all news, including from North Korea. Hayashi said the last time Japan received a condolence message from North Korea over a disaster was in 1995.
Power was gradually being restored along the Japanese coast, but water supplies were still scarce. Emergency water systems were also damaged.
Thousands of soldiers flew and transported water, food and medicine to the more than 30,000 people who had been evacuated to lecture halls, schools and other facilities.
The nationally syndicated newspaper Yomiuri reported that its aerial survey had located more than 100 landslides in the area, with some blocking lifelines.
The urgency of the rescue operations increased as the days went by. But some have clung to life, trapped beneath pillars and walls, and have been freed.
“I hope that the city recovers, and I hope that people don't leave and stay here to work hard to rebuild,” said Seizo Shinbo, a fishmonger who is in a supermarket stocking noodles, canned goods and rice balls covered.
“There is no food. There is no water. And the worst thing is gasoline. People are still standing in lines that are miles long.”
Ambulances move through fallen rocks and landslides on Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024, following Monday's deadly earthquake that hit the road in Wajima on the Noto Peninsula overlooking the Sea of Japan, northwest of Tokyo. Hiro Komae / AP