Earthquake Death Toll Rises to 64 in Central Japan

From Jiji

January 3 2024

Wajima, Ishikawa Pref – At least 64 people have been confirmed dead in the powerful magnitude-7.6 earthquake that struck Ishikawa Prefecture and surrounding areas in central Japan on New Year’s Day as rescuers continued searching for missing people on Wednesday, prefectural officials and others said.

The death toll includes 31 in Wajima and 22 in Suzu, both cities in Ishikawa’s Noto Peninsula. Evacuation centers were opened at 355 locations in the prefecture, and about 33,000 people were evacuated.

About 200 buildings in some 4,000 square meters were burned in Wajima. Many collapsed houses have been reported in Wajima and Suzu.

Some 33,700 households were out of power as of 12:05 p.m. Wednesday, according to Hokuriku Electric Power Co., which serves the areas. The Self-Defense Forces and others have provided water supply support.

The earthquake occurred at around 4:10 p.m. Monday with a maximum seismic intensity of 7, the highest on the Japanese scale, observed in Shika, a town in the peninsula. Aftershocks have since continued.