Rescue efforts continue in Japan after at least 64 people were killed in a powerful earthquake that hit the country on New Year’s Day.
Homes collapsed, buildings caught fire and roads were extensively damaged, hindering the work of rescue services.
The epicenter of the 7.6 quake was the Noto peninsula, in central Japan.
The Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, said that emergency services were locked in a “race against time” to rescue survivors some 3,000 rescuers were trying to reach parts of the Noto peninsula. Helicopter surveys showed many fires and widespread damage to buildings and infrastructure. The city of Wajima, on the northern tip of Noto, has been cut off from land routes.
The Japanese military has been handing out supplies including food, water and blankets for those who have had to vacate their homes. The country’s government has said that 57,360 people had to be evacuated.Tens of thousands of meals are being delivered across the affected region.
Aftershocks continued into Wednesday. The chief cabinet secretary, Yoshimasa Hayashi, warned people to “be alert” for more earthquakes “of an intensity of up to 7” in the coming week. Ishikawa, 155km (96.3 miles) south of the Noto peninsula, experienced a 5.5 quake on Wednesday morning.
The major tsunami warnings put out by the Japanese government on Monday were later downgraded. By Tuesday, all tsunami advisories were lifted along the Sea of Japan, meaning there was no longer a risk of giant waves.
Many also said the quake had reminded them of the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami that killed 18,000 people and triggered an accident at a nuclear plant in Fukushima.
A fire broke out when the New Year’s Day earthquake hit, and spread instantly, incinerating the wooden stalls and some surrounding homes in the fishing town of Wajima.
In an incident unrelated to the earthquake, a Japan Airlines plane caught fire on Tuesday as it collided with a coastguard aircraft on its way to provide earthquake relief at Tokyo’s Haneda airport. Five people on board the coastguard plane are known to have died, but the Japan Airlines plane’s 379 passengers and crew managed to escape.
On Thursday, a woman was arrested after stabbing and injuring four passengers with a knife on a JR Yamanote Line train as it ran between Okachimachi and Akihabara stations in Tokyo, police announced. Three men from their 30s to 60s were stabbed in the back and chest, resulting in serious injuries, at about 10:55 p.m. on Wednesday. Another man in his 30s suffered a minor injury to his left arm, the police said.
