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Hundreds cut off after Japan quake that killed 78

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Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="A person walks among burnt remains of building structures following an earthquake in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, 03 January 2024. At least 62 people were killed by the magnitude 7 earthquake (the USGS listed the magnitude as 7.5) which occurred on 01 January, according to the Ishikawa Prefecture Government. EPA-EFE/FRANCK ROBICHON" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2024/overseas/01/04/20240103-ishikawa-quake-epa.jpg"/><figcaption>A person walks among burnt remains of building structures following an earthquake in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, 03 January 2024. At least 62 people were killed by the magnitude 7 earthquake (the USGS listed the magnitude as 7.5) which occurred on 01 January, according to the Ishikawa Prefecture Government. <em>EPA-EFE/FRANCK ROBICHON</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>NANAO, Japan - More than 50 people were reported missing Thursday as Japanese rescuers battled to reach hundreds still cut off from help three days after a devastating earthquake left at least 78 dead.</p><p>As the frantic search for survivors continues, more than a dozen communities remained isolated by landslides and blocked roads in central Japan, where the 7.5-magnitude quake struck on Monday.</p><p>The powerful main tremor, followed by hundreds of aftershocks, injured at least 330 people, local authorities said.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/01/03/24/fault-responsible-for-recent-japan-quake-may-stretch-150-km-experts">Fault responsible for recent Japan quake may stretch 150 km: experts</a></li></ul><p>Authorities also published a list on Thursday of 51 people whose whereabouts could not be confirmed.</p><p>Further scenes of destruction were seen by AFP in the coastal town of Anamizu, including cars crushed under crumbling concrete and whole facades torn off three-storey structures.</p><p>Thousands of soldiers, firefighters and police officers from across Japan combed through the rubble of collapsed wooden houses and toppled commercial buildings for signs of life.</p><p>Around 29,000 households were without electricity in Ishikawa prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast, and more than 110,000 homes across Ishikawa and two neighbouring regions had no water.</p><p>Access was blocked to small communities in the hardest-hit Noto Peninsula region -- with 300 people desperately waiting for aid at a school in the town of Ooya in the Suzu area.</p><p>&quot;Even if I give my food to my children, it is not enough at all. I have eaten almost nothing for the past two days,&quot; a woman in her 30s with three children in Suzu told the Asahi Shimbun newspaper.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FZTNR5bkLbQ?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><div><strong>&#x27;Critical&#x27; 72 hours</strong></div><p>In the city of Nanao, police managing traffic told drivers that one of the main roads leading to Wajima -- where a huge fire razed a whole area of traditional wooden houses -- had been prioritised for emergency vehicles.</p><p>&quot;Either reconsider carrying on, or risk facing a huge traffic jam ahead,&quot; an officer was heard warning drivers, approaching them one by one.</p><p>At a nearby gas station, a long queue of cars was waiting outside for it to open as the clock ticked past 8 am.</p><p>Although there were no fuel shortages at the station for now, workers there told AFP they were rationing gas nonetheless.</p><p>Monday&#x27;s main shockwave triggered tsunami waves at least 1.2 metres (four feet) high in Wajima, and a series of smaller tsunamis were reported elsewhere.</p><p>Broadcaster NHK reported that one person was swept away by the tsunami in Noto&#x27;s Suzu area, with the coast guard investigating.</p><p>&quot;This is a very difficult situation. But from the viewpoint of protecting lives, I ask that you make every effort to save and rescue as many lives as possible by this evening, when the critical 72 hours of the disaster will have passed,&quot; Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said at a government meeting on Thursday.</p><p>He was due to speak again in the afternoon, 72 hours after the main quake hit -- a timeframe when the hope of finding survivors typically fades.</p><p>Japan experiences hundreds of earthquakes every year and most cause no damage, with strict building codes in place for more than four decades.</p><p>Earthquakes have hit the Noto region with intensifying strength and frequency over the past five years.</p><p>The country is haunted by a massive 9.0-magnitude undersea quake in 2011, which triggered a tsunami that left around 18,500 people dead or missing.</p><p>It also swamped the Fukushima atomic plant, causing one of the worst nuclear disasters in history.</p><p>hih-tmo/kaf/cwl</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2918904" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

More than 50 people were reported missing Thursday as Japanese rescuers battled to reach hundreds still cut off from help three days after a devastating earthquake left at least 78 dead.