Chances of finding survivors are dwindling in central Japan, where nearly 200 people were still missing on Thursday, three days after the powerful New Year's quake that killed 84 people, according to preliminary figures.
• Also read: 73 dead in New Year's quake in Japan, weather complicates rescue efforts
The magnitude 7.5 quake, felt as far as Tokyo, 300 km away, shook the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa department, a narrow strip of land that extends about 100 kilometers into the sea of Japan, collapsing buildings and devastating roads.
“This is the worst catastrophe” of the Reiwa era, which began in 2019 with the accession of the current Japanese emperor, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said during a news conference on Thursday.
AFP
More than 72 hours have now passed since the disaster, which means hopes of finding survivors are dwindling. In this context, the authorities published the names of 179 people who were still missing on Thursday.
Once that deadline passes, “the survival rate of the people who need to be rescued will drop sharply,” Ishikawa Gov. Hiroshi Hase said this morning.
An octogenarian rescued
In this context, a small miracle happened: An octogenarian who was stuck in a ruined house was saved on Wednesday thanks to a rescue dog, the Japanese Defense Minister announced on Thursday.
AFP
She was found by Jennifer, a dog who was among the animals specially trained for this type of mission and deployed to the regions most affected by the earthquake.
These dogs joined the thousands of soldiers and firefighters dispatched from across Japan to search operations along the coast of the Sea of Japan.
“The Self-Defense Forces (Japanese army, editor's note) rescued 122 people (Wednesday), including an elderly woman in a house in Wajima town who was rescued by a search dog (Jennifer),” he said. writes Defense Minister Minoru Kihara on the social network
“Today, on a crucial day, the number (of rescue workers) will be increased to around 4,600 people,” he added.
84 dead
While the Ishikawa department reports 84 deaths, that number could rise further as hundreds of buildings have been destroyed, particularly in a major fire in Wajima, and villages are still isolated.
“I came to check on members of my family, I haven't managed to see them yet,” an 80-year-old man in that city, who did not want to be named, told AFP.
“It's terrible, there's nothing left.” “It's just like there was a war,” he added.
AFP
At least 330 people were also injured by the earthquake and the hundreds of aftershocks that followed, some of them very strong. A tsunami also hit the coast and waves over a meter high swept over the quays and coastal roads.
According to public broadcaster NHK, a person was swept away by the tidal wave near Suzu at the tip of the peninsula and the coast guard was searching for him.
According to NHK, a group of researchers also estimated that the tsunami hit the city of Suzu less than a minute after the earthquake, leaving little time to evacuate the shore.
AFP
Rain made the search even more difficult and the weather services warned of the risk of landslides.
Not enough food
These conditions also made it difficult to deliver food and equipment to the victims, 300 of whom sought refuge in a school in Suzu.
“Even if I give my children my portion of food, it is still not enough. I have barely eaten anything in the last two days,” a woman in her 30s who lives in the city told the Asahi daily.
AFP
According to the local electricity company, several hundred households in Ishikawa are still without electricity.
Japan is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire and is one of the countries with the most frequent earthquakes.
The Japanese archipelago is haunted by the memory of the terrible 9.0 magnitude earthquake that was followed by a huge tsunami on its northeastern shores in March 2011, a disaster that left some 20,000 people dead or missing.
This disaster also led to the Fukushima nuclear accident, the worst since Chernobyl in 1986.