Current:Home > Back213 deaths were caused by Japan’s New Year’s quake. 8 happened in the alleged safety of shelters-LoTradeCoin
213 deaths were caused by Japan’s New Year’s quake. 8 happened in the alleged safety of shelters
View Date:2024-12-23 11:21:55
TOKYO (AP) — The 7.6 magnitude earthquake that hit the western coastline of Japan on New Year’s has killed 213 people as of Thursday. Eight of the deaths were at evacuation centers, where rescued people died from injuries and sickness.
Such deaths weren’t directly caused by the quakes, fires and mudslides. They happened in alleged safety.
“The pressures and stress of living in a place you aren’t used to lead to such deaths,” said Shigeru Nishimori, a disaster official in Ishikawa prefecture, the hardest-hit region.
Some 26,000 people whose homes were destroyed or deemed unsafe are staying at schools and other makeshift facilities. Even minor rain and snow can set off landslides where the ground is loose from the more than 1,000 aftershocks that rattled the region for more than a week. Half-collapsed homes might flatten.
Shinichi Kuriyama, director at the International Research Institute of Disaster Science, who has studied the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster that hit northeastern Japan in 2011, warned that the chances for death double among populations undergoing a disaster.
He said the number of deaths in Ishikawa evacuation centers surprised him.
“I’m really shocked,” he said. ”Communication is key and it appears to be sorely lacking.”
Kuriyama said the most vulnerable can be overlooked, missing food that’s being distributed, for instance, because they are unaware or can’t reach it. He added that Japanese tend to “suffer in silence,” which can make things worse.
Deaths from the New Year’s temblor centered on Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa have climbed daily, as rescue teams pull more bodies from the rubble. Of the deaths, 98 were in Suzu city, 83 in Wajima and 20 in Anamizu, with the rest in smaller numbers among four other towns. The number of missing people declined in recent days and now stands at 52.
Those injured totaled 567, and 1,830 homes were destroyed or seriously damaged, according to Ishikawa officials. More than 14,000 homes were without electricity, and nearly 59,000 homes had no running water.
A tsunami reaching as high as about 3 meters (10 feet) spewed into coastal homes after last week’s biggest quake. A fire destroyed part of Wajima city. A search began Tuesday into the remains of the fire for bodies.
Authorities warned about the raised risk of infectious diseases breaking out among people crammed into shelters. Food and drinking water supplies were short, especially initially.
People slept on cold floors, some without blankets, amid dropping temperatures and harsh winds. Sheets were hung for partitions to provide privacy and in an effort to curtail the spread of disease.
A week after the disaster hit Ishikawa, camping tents were set up at a big hall to accommodate 500 people — a change that could prevent further post-disaster deaths. People who are pregnant, sick or old get priority for the revamped accommodations.
Soon, they’ll be able to move to the 110 hotels and inns that volunteered to accept 3,000 people from the quake-damaged region. Nearby prefectures were also offering to open up their hotels.
With schools shuttered, people worried about the children, although some classes were moved to other campuses.
As criticism grew about the government’s disaster response, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s administration earmarked 4.7 billion yen ($33 million) for the disaster to provide food, water, blankets, milk and clothing. The spending was expected to grow.
___
Yuri Kageyama is on X: https://twitter.com/yurikageyama
veryGood! (5)
Related
- Minnesota county to pay $3.4M to end lawsuit over detainee’s death
- Toby Keith, country music star, dies at 62. He was suffering from cancer.
- Less rain forecast but historic Southern California storm still threatens flooding and landslides
- Taylor Swift announces new album, ‘The Tortured Poets Department,’ and song titles
- John Krasinski named People's Sexiest Man Alive for 2024
- Normally at a crawl, the Los Angeles River threatens to overflow during torrential rains
- First Russians are fined or jailed over rainbow-colored items after LGBTQ+ ‘movement’ is outlawed
- Philly sheriff’s campaign takes down bogus ‘news’ stories posted to site that were generated by AI
- Patricia Heaton criticizes media, 'extremists' she says 'fear-mongered' in 2024 election
- Gypsy Rose Blanchard to Explore Life After Prison Release in New Docuseries
Ranking
- Eva Longoria calls US 'dystopian' under Trump, has moved with husband and son
- Indiana community mourns 6 siblings killed in house fire
- Why Zendaya, Timothée Chalamet and Austin Butler Say Filming Dune 2 Felt Like First Day of School
- Travis Kelce Reveals What He Told Taylor Swift After Grammys Win—and It’s Sweeter Than Fiction
- Tom Brady Admits He Screwed Up as a Dad to Kids With Bridget Moynahan and Gisele Bündchen
- Untangling the Rift Dividing Miley Cyrus, Billy Ray Cyrus and Their Family
- Police confirm names of five players charged in Hockey Canada sexual assault scandal
- 'The economy is different now': Parents pay grown-up kids' bills with retirement savings
Recommendation
-
Pete Alonso's best free agent fits: Will Mets bring back Polar Bear?
-
Senate border bill would upend US asylum with emergency limits and fast-track reviews
-
'The economy is different now': Parents pay grown-up kids' bills with retirement savings
-
Mississippi will spend billions on broadband. Advocates say needy areas have been ignored
-
MVSU football player killed, driver injured in crash after police chase
-
McDonald’s franchisee agrees to pay $4.4M after manager sexually assaulted teen
-
Conservative Nebraska lawmakers push bills that would intertwine religion with public education
-
Fake and graphic images of Taylor Swift started with AI challenge