At least 55 people were killed in the powerful earthquake that hit Japan on Monday. Rescue efforts are still going on in the quake-hit areas as many are still trapped in buildings. Reportedly, 120 people are still awaiting rescue.
Japan’s PM Fumio Kishida said that the damage caused by the quake was making the rescue efforts difficult.
"The government has deployed emergency rescue teams from the Self-Defence Forces, police and fire departments to the area and is doing its utmost to save lives and rescue victims and survivors, but we have received reports that there are still many people waiting to be rescued under collapsed buildings," said Kishida.
Visuals that surfaced social media revealed the terrifying scale of a fire that ripped through the old area of Wajima. A seven-storey commercial building also collapsed in the area.
Around 33,000 households were left without power in the region.
"The search and rescue of those impacted by the quake is a battle against time," Kishida said during an emergency meeting on Tuesday. He also added that a 3,000-strong rescue crew of army personnel, firefighters and police officers have been sent to the quake site on the Noto peninsula in Ishikawa prefecture.
Also, over 500 people were stranded at Noto's airport which has closed due to cracks in its runway and access road. In Suzu, the situation was described as “catastrophic” by mayor Masuhiro Izumiya. Around 1,000 homes got damaged in the area.
Authorities have confirmed 55 fatalities, all in Ishikawa prefecture, making it Japan's deadliest earthquake since 2016. Many of those killed are in Wajima, a city on the remote northern tip of the Noto peninsula.
"I've never experienced a quake that powerful," Wajima resident Shoichi Kobayashi, 71 was quoted by Reuters. "Even the aftershocks made it difficult to stand up straight," he said.
Around 200 tremors have been detected since the quake first hit on Monday, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
Amid severe damages, the United States had offered necessary help to Japan along with other countries.
The Japanese government ordered around 1,00,000 people to evacuate their homes on Monday night. Almost half of those evacuated had returned to their homes on Tuesday after authorities lifted tsunami warnings.
Nearly 20,000 homes have no water supply.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority said no irregularities were found at nuclear plants along the Sea of Japan. Hokuriku Electric's Shika plant, the closest to the epicentre, has also been idle since 2011. The company said there had been power outages and oil leaks but no radiation leakage was found.
