One week after the devastating earthquake in central Japan, which has left at least 168 deadit has been known that the number of missing people rises to at least 300, while the search for victims and assistance to those affected continues to be hampered by snow and damage to roads.
Local authorities today offered the latest data on deaths confirmed by the earthquake magnitude 7.6 that hit Ishikawa Prefecture, and announced that another 323 people remain unaccounted for as a result of the disaster.
The number of deaths from the strong earthquake that hit central Japan a week ago is now 168, authorities from the Ishikawa prefecture cited today reported, the region most affected by the tremor where road closures and meteorology are still complicating a lot of rescue and assistance work.
In turn, the number of missing people, aged between 8 and 95, now stands at 103, according to the latest data from local councils shared by the public radio and television channel NHK.
The damage to roads and the snowfall that has fallen in recent hours on the Noto peninsula, the area most affected by the tragedy, are the main obstacle for assistance teams at a time when thousands of people continue living in shelters or still without access to light, water or food.
Damage in the city of Suzu, Ishikawa prefecture, Japan.
The damage to basic infrastructure due to the 7.6 magnitude earthquake on January 1 means that, a week later, it is still impossible for the central government to make a comprehensive assessment of the destruction generated by the earthquake.
The localitiese Wajima and Suzu, theThe two most affected by the tragedy account for most of the dead and missing, with 31 and 48 residents, respectively, whose whereabouts are unknown.
In both municipalities there are almost 15,000 houses in total that still do not have water and more than 14,000 without electricity, while some 18,000 of their inhabitants continue to live in just over 200 shelters.
It is estimated that other 10,000 people andIn the prefecture they can still be found in evacuation centers.
Furthermore, it is estimated that more than de 2,000 people in Ishikawa They remain isolated due to the damage that the earthquake caused to roads and paths.
This, together with the snowfall that has fallen in the last few hours (Wajima and Suzu accumulated 9 and 13 centimeters of snow and registered temperatures between 0 and -1 degrees Celsius early today), is of great concern to the Government, which is contemplating the delivery of food on foot in many points of the affected area.
The cut in the water supply is also worrying since, apart from the lack of drinking water, the absence of sanitation a week after the tragedy makes hygienic and sanitary conditions increasingly worse.
Last Monday's earthquake is already the deadliest in Japan since the one in 2011, a magnitude 9 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.
EFE
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