Japanese government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said Tuesday that there have been no reports of direct damage to the country's nuclear power plants. after the 7.6 magnitude earthquake that hit its western coast on Monday and which has been one of the most serious in recent years by leaving at least 48 dead.
“We have not received any reports of direct damage from the earthquake or tsunami at the Hokuriku Electric Power nuclear power plant in the city of Shiga, which is closed, and there have been no reports of anomalies at other nuclear power plants,” Hayashi said. at a press conference.
Hayashi also updated data regarding power outages, saying that some 33,000 homes remain without electricity in Ishikawa prefectures, the most affected, and nearby Niigata, where gas and water outages were also experienced in tens of thousands of homes, in addition to connection problems in landline and mobile telephone services.
Monday's 7.6 magnitude earthquake is the deadliest in Japan since April 2016 when two quakes of magnitude 6.5 and 7.3 struck the Japanese island of Kyushu. and they left fifty people dead directly and more than a thousand injured.
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Japan is considered the most prepared country in the world for managing natural disasters due to their frequency. Constructions that are resistant to strong earthquakes and alert citizens are the main keys to their protection.
A 1981 law marked a before and after in the country's anti-seismic construction standards, which have been reinforced in recent decades and are, according to experts, the highest in the world.
Collapsed wooden house in Wajima, Ishikawa prefecture, Japan.
Nevertheless, The state broadcaster NHK puts the death toll at 48, which is expected to increase in the coming hours with victims treated in hospitals. and as the rescue efforts continue.
Among the deceased are 19 people in the city of Wajima, 20 in Suzu, 5 in Nanao, 2 in Anamizu, 1 in Hakui and 1 in Shiga, all of them in Ishikawa prefecture, which suffered significant structural damage and fires.
With the morning light, the authorities confirmed the extent of the destruction in Ishikawa, with buildings still smoking, houses demolished and fishing boats sunk or washed ashore.
“Very extensive damage has been confirmed, including numerous victims, collapsed buildings and fires,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters after a disaster response meeting.
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“We have to race against time to search and rescue the victims,” he added.
Aerial shots showed the devastation of a fire at the port of Wajima, where a seven-story building collapsed.
It was such a powerful shock. What a terrible way to start the year.
“It was such a powerful shock,” Tsugumasa Mihara, 73, told AFP while lining up to receive water with hundreds of residents of the town of Shika.
“What a terrible way to start the year,” he said.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) indicated that after the initial earthquake 155 aftershocks were recorded, most of them with magnitudes greater than 3.
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Collapsed houses and damaged roads after the earthquake in Japan.
In Wajima, a coastal town 60 km north of Shika, an entire neighborhood of wooden houses was destroyed by flames.
On this rural peninsula sandwiched between mountains and the seaaccess for emergency services is difficult everywhere due to damaged roads, collapsed or blocked by landslides.
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An unusual calm reigns on the streets of the cities visited by AFP journalists, who also saw many vehicles stuck in cracks in the asphalt.
Residents also line up in front of supermarkets to stock up, although some businesses are closed due to lack of supplies.. “Today we are closed. We are evacuating,” reads a sign at the entrance of one of these premises.
In some places, workers are already working to seal the cracks and facilitate the passage of firefighters, the army – which was called in as reinforcements – and the police.
EFE and AFP
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