Japan's prime minister said the country faces a “battle against time” to rescue victims of a series of powerful earthquakes that have reportedly killed at least 48 people, injured dozens and sparked fires that destroyed homes.
Police and local authorities early Tuesday reported cases of bodies being pulled from the rubble of collapsed buildings while others remained trapped.
“We need to rescue them as soon as possible, especially those trapped under collapsed buildings,” Fumio Kishida said during an emergency disaster meeting.
A thousand army personnel were deployed to the worst-hit area on the country's relatively remote Noto Peninsula, but rescue operations were hampered by badly damaged and blocked roads and one of the region's airports was forced to close due to cracks in the runway.
Smoke rises from an area following a major fire in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture. Photo: Fred Mery/AFP/Getty ImagesFires were still burning in the city of Wajima as of 7 a.m. local time on Tuesday, and firefighters reported that more than 100 homes and other buildings were completely destroyed. At least 15 of the dead were in the city of Wajima, the Kyodo news agency said.
The hardest hit area was the area around Asachi-dori Street, a popular area with visitors known for its many wooden buildings. The cause and number of victims were currently unclear.
The quakes, the strongest of which had a magnitude of 7.6 at a shallow depth of 10 km, struck on Monday on the west coast of Japan's main island and shook buildings in Tokyo, about 300 km away.
The quake's epicenter was on the peninsula that juts into the Sea of Japan, and the death toll and injuries were concentrated there. The death of a woman in her 50s was confirmed in the city of Nanao, where more than 30 people were hospitalized. Other residents in the area were reportedly found unconscious, believed to be trapped under rubble or missing.
Houses destroyed by an earthquake are seen in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture. Photo: 西詰真吾/APThe weather agency said aftershocks could rattle affected areas in the next few days and residents of coastal areas were told not to return to their homes even though the tsunami warning was lifted.
The Japanese public broadcaster NHK TV initially warned that the water could reach up to five meters high and that people would be evacuated to sports halls, schools and other public buildings.
Map of Japan.
High-speed trains and flights in and out of the region were suspended on Tuesday morning. According to NHK, sections of major highways remained closed and water supplies were interrupted due to burst pipes in some areas. Mobile networks in the area were also damaged, but service was gradually restored.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the UK was ready to support Japan and that “British nationals in affected areas should follow the advice of the Japanese authorities.”
U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement that his administration was in contact with Japanese officials and was “ready to provide any necessary assistance to the Japanese people.”
Japan is the most earthquake-prone country in the world. However, a tsunami warning of the magnitude of Monday's has not been issued since a powerful quake and tsunami struck the northeast of the country on March 11, 2011, killing 18,000 people. The disaster devastated cities and triggered a meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Almost all of Japan's nuclear power plants have been shut down since the disaster.
Nuclear regulators said no increases in radiation levels were detected at monitoring posts in the region and no anomalies were detected at the more than 20 reactors along the nearby coast.