MONITORING (SW) – A woman in her 90s has been pulled alive from a collapsed house in western Japan, 124 hours after the area was struck by a powerful earthquake that killed at least 126 people.
The resident of Suzu on the northern tip of the hard-hit Noto Peninsula had survived for more than five days after the 7.6 magnitude quake.
Nationally broadcast news footage showed helmeted rescue workers covering the view of the area with blue plastic, with the woman not visible. Her condition was unclear.
Chances for survival drop sharply after the first 72 hours. About 200 people remain unaccounted for, according to authorities.
Among the 126 dead was a 5-year-old boy who had been recovering from injuries he suffered when boiling water spilled on him during the quake. His condition suddenly worsened and he died on Friday, according to authorities in Ishikawa Prefecture, which includes the Noto Peninsula.
Most of the deaths recorded so far have been in Wajima City, which is also in the north of the peninsula and was the site of a ferocious blaze, and in Suzu. More than 500 people have been injured, at least 27 of them seriously.
In Suzu, where dozens of homes lie in ruins, a dog barked while an AFP team filmed the cleanup operation, the signal of a grim discovery.
“Training for disaster rescue dogs begins with something similar to a game of hide-and-seek,” canine trainer Masayo Kikuchi told the news agency.
Houses containing any deaths that are discovered are being marked and left alone until a coroner can come with relatives to identify the body.
‘Really tough’
Continued aftershocks have threatened to bury more homes and block roads that are crucial for relief shipments. With rain and snow forecast for Sunday, officials warned that roads already buckled and cracked by the earthquake could collapse completely.
Thousands of troops were flying and trucking in water, food and medicine to the more than 30,000 people who had evacuated to auditoriums, schools and other facilities.
For Shiro Kokuda, 76, the house in Wajima where he grew up was spared but a nearby temple went up in flames and he was still looking for his friends at evacuation centres.
“It’s been really tough,” he said.
The nationally-circulated Yomiuri newspaper reported that its aerial study had located more than 100 landslides in the area and some were blocking major roads.
Some communities, such as the coastal community of Shiromaru which was also hit by a tsunami, were still waiting for aid.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
