Tokyo.- The death toll from the strong earthquake that hit central Japan last Monday rose to 110 today, while the search continues for another 211 people still missing, tasks made difficult by the damage to infrastructure and the rains and snowfall expected in the area.
The 7.6 magnitude earthquake that shook the Ishikawa prefecture (central Japan) caused extensive damage to roads and homes and other buildings in the area, where hundreds of people are believed to remain trapped or isolated waiting for the arrival of rescue services.
Added to the difficulty of accessing all the affected areas are the repeated aftershocks of the earthquake, including one this Saturday of magnitude 5.3, which together with the adverse weather conditions are causing new land displacements and flooding affected areas.
Local authorities today raised the number of deaths to 110 in various incidents resulting from last Monday’s strong earthquake, most of them in the towns of Wajima and Suzu.
Added to them are 211 people whose whereabouts are unknown, and whose identities have been made public to try to facilitate their location. Another 516 people were injured to varying degrees due to the earthquake, according to data announced by the Ishikawa Prefectural Government.
This same Saturday, a mud avalanche caused by the latest earthquake devastated dozens of houses in the town of Anamizu, leaving at least three dead and another dozen people trapped, according to local authorities.
After more than 72 hours considered key since Monday’s disaster to find survivors, rescue services continue the search among the rubble of collapsed buildings and in areas that were buried by landslides or flooded by the tsunami triggered by the earthquake, which reached 4 meters in some coastal points.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida urged all ministries, agencies and local authorities involved in rescue efforts to “make every effort to try to save as many lives as possible,” during a coordination meeting of rescue operations. emergency, according to local media.
Due to damage to infrastructure, authorities are also having great difficulty transporting supplies such as food or drinking water to the approximately 31,000 people who remain evacuated in some 357 shelters.
Some of these centers do not have running water, as do 66,000 homes in the prefecture, while 24,000 homes also remain without electricity supply.
The Ishikawa Government announced that it will begin building temporary accommodation next Friday for those displaced by the natural disaster, which is among the most serious to have hit the country in recent decades.
This earthquake is already the deadliest in Japan since the one in 2011, a 9-degree tremor that caused a tsunami that left more than 20,000 dead and caused the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the worst since Chernobyl (Ukraine) in 1986. EFE