Japan Rushes to Find 222 People Missing After Earthquake
(Bloomberg) -- Japan rushed to find 222 people listed as missing from a New Year’s Day earthquake that ripped through a northwest peninsula, as authorities say time is running out to find survivors trapped under rubble.
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At least 94 people were killed by the 7.6 magnitude quake that flattened buildings on the Noto Peninsula, which is still being shaken by a series of aftershocks hampering rescue efforts. Rain fell on the region Friday, increasing the risks of landslides.
A woman in her 80s was rescued Thursday after being trapped under the wreckage of a collapsed house for about three days, according to broadcaster NHK. A 72-hour window mentioned by authorities as the time frame for finding people alive has closed, adding to the urgency of searches by thousands of soldiers, emergency personnel and sniffer dog teams.
Food, fuel and water have been rushed to the area, where some 33,000 people are being counted as evacuees, according to data Friday from Ishikawa prefecture.
Video from the region showed neighborhoods reduced to rubble, cracks in asphalt that made roads largely unusable and the charred remnants of about 200 structures in the hard-hit city of Wajima, where some 55 people were killed.
The loss from the earthquake is now estimated to be around ¥800 billion ($5.5 billion), according to Takahide Kiuchi, an executive economist at the Nomura Research Institute. Japan’s government plans to use 4.74 billion yen in reserve funds to help the quake-hit area, Kyodo News reported, citing the finance minister.
(Updates with latest figures on death toll, people missing.)
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