210 people are still missing: 126 dead so far after a major earthquake in Japan

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“We sincerely pray for the repose of the souls of the deceased,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on the online service X (formerly Twitter).

At an emergency meeting, Kishida called on ministers to repair roads “urgently and quickly” to help hundreds of people in lockdown areas. The work of thousands of rescue workers is currently hampered by bad weather conditions, road damage and an estimated 1,000 landslides. Snow is also expected for Sunday.

The Japanese main island of Honshu was rocked on New Year’s Day by a major earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 on the Richter scale and dozens of aftershocks and hit by tsunami waves. Numerous houses have collapsed or been damaged on the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture. Streets became impassable and a major fire destroyed a historic market district in the port city of Wajima.

About 23,200 households in Ishikawa had their power cut off and more than 66,400 had no access to running water. Hospitals and homes for the elderly and disabled were also affected. More than 30,000 people found shelter in 366 state-run shelters.

“We are facing an extremely difficult situation” due to the water supply failure, Ishikawa Governor Hiroshi Hase said. Restoring running water will take a long time because many water pipes have cracks.

Japan is rocked by hundreds of earthquakes every year. Most leave no damage, which is partly due to the strict building codes that have been in place for decades. Over the past five years, earthquakes have increased in strength and frequency, especially in the Noto region.

(SDA)

Source: Blick