NAfter the severe earthquake in Japan, the death toll has risen to at least 62. At least 300 other people were injured, 20 of them seriously, an official in charge of disaster management at the Ishikawa Prefecture regional government told the AFP news agency on Wednesday. According to authorities, 31,800 people are currently staying in emergency accommodation.
Meanwhile, the authorities warned of dangerous weather conditions in the earthquake area: Heavy rain and possible landslides are expected throughout Ishikawa Prefecture throughout Wednesday.
The Japanese main island of Honshu was shaken by a severe earthquake of magnitude 7.5 as well as dozens of aftershocks and hit by tsunami waves on New Year's Day. Hundreds of houses collapsed or were damaged on the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture. Roads became impassable and a major fire destroyed a historic market district in the city of Wajima. Further aftershocks were recorded on Tuesday, but the tsunami warning issued on Monday was lifted.
Numerous people could still be buried
The number of victims of the earthquake is likely to continue to rise. Ishikawa is a rural region and numerous roads were destroyed after the earthquake. According to the television station NHK, numerous other people could be buried.
Nearly 34,000 homes in Ishikawa Prefecture remained without power on Wednesday, according to local utilities. In several cities, residents had no running water in their homes.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida spoke of a “race against time” on Wednesday after a meeting of the crisis team set up after the quake. The number of rescue workers will be further increased; the aim is to “do the most possible to save lives”.
No incidents in nuclear power plants in the region
Japan lies on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, where tectonic plates collide. Every year the country is shaken by hundreds of earthquakes, most of which cause little damage. A massive undersea earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 triggered a devastating tsunami wave in March 2011, killing around 18,500 people. The tsunami flooded the Fukushima nuclear power plant and led to the worst nuclear accident since the Chernobyl nuclear power plant explosion in 1986.
After Monday's quake, Japan's nuclear regulator reported no unusual incidents at the Shika nuclear power plant in the affected Ishikawa Prefecture or other nuclear facilities in the country.
Transportation authorities begin investigation into plane collision
Meanwhile, a day after a fatal collision between a Japanese airliner and a Coast Guard plane at Tokyo's Haneda Airport, the country's transport authorities began investigating the cause of the accident. The Japan Transport Safety Board, a government agency responsible for serious accidents involving planes, trains and ships, is examining the burned-out wreckage, the Japanese news agency Kyodo reported on Wednesday. A Japan Airlines (JAL) passenger plane collided with the coast guard plane the day before immediately after landing. Both caught fire.
While all 379 people on board the Airbus A350 passenger plane were able to leave the blazing plane without life-threatening injuries, any help came too late for five people on board the Coast Guard plane. Only the pilot of the Bombardier DHC8-300 got out; according to the media, he suffered serious injuries. The flames on the JAL plane were brought under control more than eight hours after the collision.
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