The local authorities of the Japanese prefecture of Ishikawa, the most affected by the 7.6 magnitude earthquake this Monday, today raised the death toll to 94 and the missing to 242, with little hope of finding to more survivors.
The towns with the most missing people are two of the hardest hit by the earthquake; Wajima, and Suzu, where it has been confirmed that numerous homes have collapsed and rescue efforts continue despite the fact that the 72-hour limit after which it is very difficult to find survivors has already passed.
The Japanese Coast Guard has also been searching since Thursday with a plane and a boat for people who could have been swept away by the tsunami – tide rises of up to 1.2 meters were recorded – caused by the earthquake that hit central Japan. at the beginning of the week, after receiving a report from witnesses.
Experts have also warned of aftershocks throughout this week and the next that could be of great intensity, in addition to the rains that are hitting the area and that could cause landslides and also make rescue tasks difficult.
The victims of the earthquake in Wajima
In Wajima, at least 55 people died, while 23 died in Suzu and municipalities such as Hakui, Noto or Anamizu together account for more than a dozen.
The good news of the day was the live rescue of an octogenarian in Suzu, who was found under the rubble of her house by a rescue dog from the Osaka firefighters (western Japan) named Jennifer.
As of today, the deployment of members of the National Police Agency (NPA) in the region reaches 1,100, while the volume of members of the Self-Defense Forces (Army) has doubled to almost 5,000.
As of today, more than 30,000 people remain evacuated in 370 different shelters in Ishikawa, where about 160 people still remain incommunicado due to damage to the roads.
In turn, some 27,000 homes in the region remain without electricity and 68,000 are without water.
The earthquake that hit the Noto Peninsula – an area known to have active faults – on Monday, had its epicenter 30 kilometers northeast of Wajima and reached level 7 on the Japanese closed scale of 7, which focuses in the destructive power of the tremor.
This earthquake already appears to be the most devastating 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. .
Dog saves elderly woman in Japan 72 hours after earthquake
An 80-year-old woman was saved from dying under the rubble of her house, collapsed by the earthquake, when she was found by a rescue dog (Jennifer) from the Osaka firefighters, a spokesperson for the force confirmed to EFE today.
The octogenarian survivor was trapped after the first of the two floors of her house in the city of Wajima, the city hardest hit by the earthquake along with Suzu, gave way to the tremor and the house collapsed.
Although the probability of finding victims alive after an earthquake decreases after 72 hours of the earthquake, the elderly woman “was conscious and able to respond to the calls” of the rescue teams, who took her to the hospital.
A video shows how the firefighters hug the elderly woman when they find her, while pronouncing: “You did the best you could,” before shouting: “Grandma is here!”
By Nadeem Faisal Baiga
