The US military yesterday joined relief efforts in southern Japan for areas devastated by two powerful earthquakes as local rescuers combed through debris looking for 10 people still reported missing.
Authorities said at least 42 people had died and nearly 1,100 were injured in the two quakes that hit the region near Kumamoto City late on Thursday last week and early on Sunday.
Rescuers were redoubling search efforts on the southern island of Kyushu, where many areas were cut off by landslides and damage to roads and bridges. Forecasts of heavy rain, which would make land and collapsed buildings even more unstable, added to the urgency.
Photo: AFP
A US Army UC-35 aircraft yesterday landed at a Japanese military base near Kumamoto.
Nine people died in the first, magnitude 6.5, earthquake, while the second quake, which was revised from an initial reading of magnitude 7.3 to magnitude 7.1, killed at least 33 people.
“There are still missing people, so with the help of the US forces, we would like for the operations to go into effect as quickly and smoothly as possible,” said Colonel Masahiro Sugawara of the Joint Staff Council of Japan Self-Defense Forces.
The US side, whose Air Force, Navy and Marines bases are home to about 50,000 troops in Japan, was to provide aerial support from other regions in an effort to feed and care for tens of thousands of people seeking shelter. The US military played a large role in rescue and relief after a March 2011 earthquake and subsequent tsunami in northeastern Japan.
This time, Japan asked for help with airlifts into the area, said Jacqueline Hearne, a US Army public affairs officer.
“We are glad that we are able to support in any way the Japanese government needs us,” she said.
The disruptions caused by damage to buildings and roads, and by stoppages of electricity and water supplies, were reverberating beyond Kyushu, as manufacturers suspended output and transport links were snarled. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 3.4 percent to 16,270.89, although for various reasons, including a surge in the value of the yen after weekend talks between major oil producers on freezing oil output ended without an agreement.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe defended his government’s handling of the crisis, as some of the 180,000 evacuees complained of having only rice balls and bread to eat.
“We are doing our best,” Abe told lawmakers when challenged by the opposition over the government’s handling of the relief effort. “We are striving to improve living conditions for the people who have sought refuge.”
Many whose homes were not seriously damaged sought shelter as the area was rocked by more than 500 aftershocks.
“Without water and electricity, we cannot do anything. Without the TV on, we cannot even get information about disaster relief operations,” said Megumi Kudo, 51, standing in a line for water outside a community center in Aso. “We cannot take a bath, not even a shower.”
His house is intact, despite major roof damage, but like many, the family was sleeping in their cars.
Japanese media said most of those missing were in Minami-Aso, a mountain village southwest of the 1,592m-high Mount Aso, the largest active volcano in Japan. There, dozens of troops, police and other rescue workers were shoveling debris and searching through places where people might have been buried.
Stretchers were on hand in case anyone was found alive.
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