Scenes of devastation emerged along Japan’s west coast on Tuesday as rescuers rushed to save residents trapped in the rubble of a magnitude 7.5 earthquake and its aftershocks that hit central Japan, leaving at least 30 dead.
The earthquake struck the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture on Monday afternoon, collapsing buildings, causing fires and triggering tsunami warnings as far away as eastern Russia.
The Japan Meteorological Agency lifted all tsunami warnings along parts of the country’s western coast on Tuesday, but nearly 24 hours after the earthquake struck, there has been limited access to the northern part of the isolated Japan Peninsula. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters after an emergency disaster meeting Tuesday that a destroyed road had cut off access to the area.
Officials in helicopters had flown over the peninsula, known for its coastal and rural landscape, and reported seeing damaged roads, landslides and large fires. More than 100 shops and houses burned in Wajima on Monday night after a fire broke out following the earthquake, with previously suffered tsunami waves of around 1.2 meters.
Even though the extent of damage caused by Monday’s earthquake is still being determined, it is far from the levels of destruction caused by the magnitude 9.0 earthquake in 2011, which triggered a tsunami that caused a nuclear meltdown at the plant of Fukushima energy. Prime Minister Kishida said Tuesday that members of the Japan Self-Defense Forces had joined police and fire emergency teams to rescue people from devastated areas overnight.
The tsunami warnings were later lifted, but aftershocks could last for months. According to the United States Geological Survey, at least 35 smaller aftershocks were recorded near the earthquake’s epicenter. Susan Hough, a seismologist with the US Geological Survey, warned that aftershocks could last for months. Hough said people who live in that part of the country have felt earthquakes before, but he believes this is “the largest earthquake by far,” meaning most residents probably have no experience with a seismic event of this magnitude.
“An earthquake of this magnitude will still have aftershocks. It could easily have aftershocks greater than magnitude 6, so that will be a danger in itself.”