Japan earthquake: race against time to find survivors (updated)

Kokusai Electric

04/01/2024 02:09

(Updates with fresh Prime Minister quote in paragraph 2, adds
number of rescued/missing people in paragraphs 4-6)
    By Kiyoshi Takenaka and Sakura Murakami
       WAJIMA, Japan, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Thousands of rescuers
pressed on in a search for survivors of a New Year's Day
earthquake that killed at least 84 people in Japan, hoping to
save as many as possible despite a three day survival window
that ended on Thursday afternoon.
    "We must continue putting all of our efforts into rescuing
people, even beyond 72 hours after the disaster," Japanese Prime
Minister Fumio Kishida said at a news conference.
        Survival rates drop off 72 hours after a quake,
according to emergency responders. 
  
        So far 156 people have been rescued, but at least 79
others remain unaccounted for, according to authorities.
  
        The extent of the damage from the earthquake and the
tsunami it triggered remains unclear, with rescuers struggling
to reach the northernmost areas of the peninsula - where much of
the fatalities are - due to severed roads.
  
        Three days after disaster struck, 30 villages remain
inaccessible, according to Ishikawa prefecture authorities.
  
    Material aid has trickled in but many evacuees remain
largely cut off from food, water, electricity, and
communications amid freezing temperatures and bad weather,
authorities have also said.
    The 3,000 meals and 5,000 bottles of water that were
delivered as of Wednesday is not nearly enough for the 11,000
evacuees in Wajima city, its mayor, Shigeru Sakaguchi, said at a
regional disaster response meeting.
    "First and foremost, it's the road - severed roads are
hampering not just aid supplies, but also the recovery of
electricity, water, mobile signals and other lifeline
infrastructures," he said.
    There were almost 100 chokepoints and blockages on
prefectural roads as of Thursday, according to Ishikawa
officials. 
    "Compared to other disasters the road situation into Wajima
is very bad. I feel it's taking longer than usual for assistance
to arrive," Shunsaku Kohriki, a medical worker who has assisted
other disasters, told Reuters in the city.
    "I think realistically speaking the evacuees will have to
live in really tough conditions for a while yet," he said.

    NO RUNNING WATER
        Basics such as internet access, medical supplies and
clean toilets were also lacking.
  
    "We have no running water. We cannot wash our hands after
going to the bathroom," Kyoko Kinoshita, 62, said as she queued
in line with a couple of hundred other survivors for food in
Wajima.
    "One of the babies at the evacuation centre is 3 weeks old
and it looks like there is not enough water or milk for the baby
either," she added.
    The government has pledged it will proactively provide
supplies instead of waiting for official requests from local
authorities. It also quintupled the number of Self-Defence Force
members tasked with rescue operations since Monday, putting the
total number of rescuers at about 7,000.
    Some aid has been delivered via sea instead of land, with
coast guard boats reaching ports in Wajima and Suzu on
Wednesday.     
    However, larger ships have been unable to dock in some bays
of the Noto peninsula because the seabed had buckled from the
earthquake, Ishikawa Governor Hiroshi Hase said on Thursday.
    
    BUSINESS IMPACT
    Survivors may have escaped death, but face a long road to
recovery in an area that had hoped for more tourists after years
of pandemic gloom.
    As Japanese businesses returned from the New Year holidays
on Thursday, manufacturers also gauged the impact of the quake
on their production lines. 
    Display makers Japan Display  6740.T  and EIZO  6737.T , as
well as semiconductor firm Kokusai Electric  6525.T , said they
were repairing damaged factory facilities. 
    Tokyo Stock Exchange observed a minute of silence instead of
ringing a bell to mark the opening of trade, out of respect for
those who died in the earthquake and a separate accident at
Tokyo Haneda airport where five Coast Guard members were killed
en route to deliver aid.
    Kishida pledged on Thursday to tap roughly 4 billion yen
($28 million) of the national budget for disaster relief.

 (Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka and Chris Gallagher in Wajima,
Sakura Murakami and Kantaro Komiya in Tokyo; Editing by Raju
Gopalakrishnan and Stephen Coates)
 ((Kantaro.Komiya@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: @kantarokomiya;))