Eight days after the devastating earthquake that left more than 200 dead, a new earthquake shakes the Noto peninsula.
This Tuesday, a new 6.0 magnitude earthquake shook central Japan, according to the Japanese meteorological agency. Despite the intensity, no tsunami warning was issued. The event occurred eight days after the devastating 7.5 earthquake that occurred during the New Year’s celebration, which left more than 200 dead.
The January 1 disaster destroyed buildings, sparked fires and collapsed infrastructure on the Noto Peninsula on the main island of Honshu. On the contrary, more than 100 people remain missing. Eight days later, rescue teams are facing blocked roads and adverse weather conditions to clear debris and reach the nearly 3,500 people trapped in isolated communities.
Courtesy of the BBC
Since the January 1 earthquake, more than 1,200 aftershocks have been recorded. On Tuesday, a magnitude 6 earthquake off the coast of the Sea of Japan shook the area again, but did not trigger a tsunami warning, Japanese authorities said. For its part, the United States Geological Survey calibrated the magnitude of this latest earthquake at 5.8.
In the latest report published on Tuesday, the authorities of the Ishikawa region reported that the number of fatalities from the New Year’s earthquake increased from 180 to 202, while the number of missing persons decreased from 120 to 102. However, the tasks Rescue workers are affected by heavy snowfall in the area, where almost 30,000 people are housed in government shelters, some of them without enough food, water and heat.
Courtesy of The Herald
Likewise, nearly 60,000 houses are without water and 15,600 do not have electricity. The rainfall in recent days has caused around a thousand landslides that have worsened the conditions of the road network.
Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida instructed his cabinet to “make efforts to resolve the isolation (of communities) and continue rescue activities.” He also ordered evacuations to other regions away from the quake-hit zone, government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters.
This natural disaster revives memories of the strong earthquake followed by a tsunami in 2011, which left 18,500 people dead and dozens missing in Japan. In addition, it triggered a nuclear catastrophe at the Fukushima plant.
Importantly, Japan experiences hundreds of earthquakes each year, most of which do not cause significant damage thanks to strict building standards in place for more than four decades.