Tokyo: Japan has been hit by 155 earthquakes since Monday including a 7.6-magnitude jolt and another over 6, reported the country’s meteorological office. The major earthquake triggered tsunami waves over a metre high, damaging homes and sparking a major fire that wreaked destruction overnight.
News footage aired by local media showed toppled buildings, sunken boats at a port, countless charred homes, and locals without power in freezing overnight temperatures.
With roads cut across the Noto region, about 500 people have been stranded at the airport in Wajima city, local media have reported. Citing the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, they say travelers, local residents, and staff sheltered in rental cars and tour buses in the car park. There are no injuries, but there has been damage to the airport and runways, the reports say.
“Very extensive damage has been confirmed, including numerous casualties, building collapses and fires,” he told reporters, describing a “race against time” to rescue victims. Kishida said with the tsunami warning lifted, the government will try establishing sea routes to reach isolated areas in the northern Noto peninsula. He added that about 100 members of the self-defence forces are current in the quake-hit areas and holding search and rescue operations.
Japan is no stranger to earthquakes – the island nation experiences about 1,500 each year. It’s been nearly 13 years since the devastating earthquake and tsunami that triggered an accident at a nuclear plant in Fukushima. But on Monday, as shaking began in Ishikawa and the tsunami alarms began sounding – it brought back memories, and yet this most recent quake is also a remarkable story of Japan’s success.
There has been widespread destruction of roads and bridges. It unleashed massive landslides. But the vast majority of buildings are still standing.
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