A powerful earthquake shakes Japan on New Year's Day. The death toll is rising. The search for the missing people is underway under time pressure. A woman could now be rescued from the rubble.
Tokyo – Five days after the severe earthquake in Japan on New Year's Day, rescue workers rescued a woman in her 90s alive from the rubble. The woman was rescued from under rubble of a collapsed house in the western coastal city of Suzu on Saturday, the Japanese news agency Kyodo reported.
According to The Japan Times newspaper, the death toll from the 7.6 magnitude quake rose to 128 by Sunday afternoon (local time). More than 220 people were still missing.
The rescued woman is currently recovering in a hospital, broadcaster NHK reported. Doctors said she could talk and had a knee injury. When she was found, her legs were stuck. The rescue took hours. Doctors suspected she was able to drink water in the rubble because it was raining.
At the same time, they emphasized that it was rare to be able to rescue buried people so long after an earthquake. The first 72 hours after such a disaster are considered crucial. After that, the chances of survival decrease drastically.
The quake struck Ishikawa Prefecture and neighboring areas last Monday. Mountains of rubble, damaged roads, landslides and aftershocks made it difficult for search and rescue teams to operate. The government had sent additional soldiers to the disaster area to support the search. dpa
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