There are already at least 57 deaths from the strong 7.6 magnitude earthquake that hit the western coast on Monday from central Japan, local governments reported this Wednesday, while reports of new damage continue to arrive and rescue teams struggle to find survivors.
In towns such as Wajima, Noto or Suzu, all near the epicenter, City Councils are still trying to quantify collapsed buildings and structures. In the last of them “around 90% of the houses have been totally or partially destroyed,” according to the mayor, Masuhiro Izumiya, in statements reported by the Kyodo agency.
Wajima and Suzu, in fact, account for 24 and 24 deaths, respectively, and the total number of seriously injured in the entire region now stands at 22.
The earthquake in turn caused a large fire in the first of these towns, but firefighters have finally managed to control the flames, according to the Government of the Ishikawa prefecture, the most affected by the earthquake.
Two days after the earthquake, it is still difficult to know the full extent of the damage due to the amount of debris, ditches or rising earth blocking streets and highways.
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According to the Japanese Geospatial Information Authority, ground rises of up to four meters have been detected in Wajima and up to one in Suzu. In turn, the weather is not good today in the most affected region due to the rains, and the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) has warned that even low rainfall can increase the risk of landslides.
According to the latest data published on Tuesday in this regard, more than 57,000 people remained evacuated in the prefectures of Ishikawa and Niigata, while a thousand members of the Self-Defense Forces (Army) participated in rescue and assistance work.
The earthquake that hit the Noto peninsula – an area known to have active faults – On Monday, it had its epicenter 30 kilometers northeast of Wajima and reached level 7 on the Japanese closed scale of 7, which focuses on the destructive power of tremor.
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Level 7 describes a ground vibration that makes standing impossible. This earthquake, the most devastating in Japan since the 2016 earthquake in Kumamoto prefecture (which left more than 200 dead), is the first level 7 to be recorded in the country since 2018, when an earthquake reached level 7 on the island. from Hokkaido.
However, this earthquake did not cause major damage as it occurred in a very sparsely populated area of the country. Monday's earthquake also forced the activation of a tsunami warning on much of the coasts of the archipelago. for almost an entire day, although the recorded sea level rises fortunately did not cause significant damage.
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