Japan’s premier vows ‘ceaseless’ aid as snow hampers quake relief

Wajima — Japan’s prime minister vowed to provide “ceaseless support” to areas devastated by the New Year's Day earthquake as snow and sleet hampered rescue and relief efforts and media reported that the disaster had now claimed at least 126 lives. 

Bad weather on the Noto peninsula continues to vex survivors at the epicentre of the magnitude 7.6 quake that left more than 30,000 homeless and cut power to tens of thousands of homes and businesses.

At least 222 people are still reported missing and more heavy snow or rain is forecast overnight for the region.

Footage on national broadcaster NHK showed rescue workers digging through piles of rubble three metres deep to unearth houses buried by landslides.

“Rescuing people trapped under the rubble and responding to isolated areas are issues that must be tackled with the highest priority,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on an NHK programme on Sunday.

“As we move forward with ceaseless reconstruction and recovery efforts, we must not hesitate in responding due to budget constraints in the disaster-affected areas,” he said.

Kishida had said on Friday that his government would tap ¥4.74bn of budget reserves for reconstruction.

The governor of Ishikawa Prefecture, where the Noto peninsula is located, declared a state of emergency on Saturday, calling the quake an “unprecedented disaster” for the region, reports NHK.

In the city of Wajima, on the peninsula’s northern coast, there was a queue of cars as far as the eye could see to refuel at a petrol station as fuel supply to the region gradually returned.

Prefectural governments have sent trailers equipped with flushable toilets to evacuation centres in Wajima and other disaster-struck cities, where water supplies are only just restarting, reports NHK.

At a centre near Wajima’s famed Asaichi morning market, burnt to the ground after the quake, some of the 700 people taking shelter there stood in a line on a stairway, passing boxes of water to higher floors.

“Some people have left as electricity is restored in parts of the city (but) we are still at capacity and not accepting new evacuees,” said the centre receptionist.

Reuters