At least 73 people were killed in the powerful earthquake that jolted the
Two days have passed since the magnitude-7.6 quake caused extensive structural damage and fires in the city of Wajima in Ishikawa Prefecture on the Sea of
Late Wednesday, the prefectural government released the identities of 15 people who are still unaccounted for in Wajima and the nearby town of Anamizu, saying the list could grow.
Rain added to the difficulty of the rescue operations already impeded by debris and severed roads.
Prime Minister
Kishida met the press a day after a
But Kishida said, "Overall, we believe that there is no impact from the accident. Transportation of relief supplies to the areas has been progressing steadily."
He later said 2,000 firefighters and 740 police officers will newly join the search and rescue efforts.
Municipal authorities, meanwhile, said they had received information about several cases of people being buried alive or trapped under collapsed homes in the quake-hit areas that have continued to experience strong earthquakes.
In Ishikawa alone, 33,000 people remained as evacuees and over 30,000 homes were without power. In Ishikawa and two neighboring prefectures of Toyama and Niigata, 110,000 homes were without water supply.
The
A level-7 quake is described as rendering it impossible for people to remain standing. Such a temblor was last recorded in 2018 in
==Kyodo
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