[ad_1]
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited the earthquake-affected Hokkaido region on Sunday as authorities confirmed the deaths of more than 42 people.
Abe visited the city and Sapporo Mall, where Thursday's magnitude 6.6 jolt left sloping homes and cracked roads.
He also visited Atsuma, a small, hard-hit rural town that experienced most of the earthquake-related deaths.
A group of homes in the city was destroyed when a hill collapsed under the force of the earthquake, creating deep brown scars in the landscape.
After visiting local political leaders and residents in shelters, Abe quickly returned to Tokyo to hold a cabinet meeting where he said the government would release 540 million yen ($ 4.9 million) .
"We need to create a framework in which the concerned municipalities can … take urgent measures and rebuild themselves," Abe said at the cabinet meeting.
Abe has also reported that the death toll has risen to 42, according to local media, including the national television channel NHK and Jiji Press.
The secretary-general of the cabinet, Yoshihide Suga, told the local media separately that a person was still missing, said Jiji Press.
The Hokkaido government, however, said the death toll was set at 39 Sunday night, with a missing person.
Abe visited the area as search and rescue operations continue 24 hours a day to attract more bodies.
"There are irregular rains in Atsuma and work is continuing to search for missing persons," a regional disaster management officer told AFP.
Abe said the central government has dispatched some 40,000 rescuers, including self-defense forces, to search for bulldozers, sniffer dogs and helicopters.
The three million inhabitants of Hokkaido lost energy when Thursday's earthquake damaged a thermal power plant supplying electricity to the region.
Energy has been restored in almost all homes, but authorities are asking locals and local businesses to save energy, especially after the weekend, because the supply in electricity remains unstable.
The earthquake was the latest in a series of natural disasters to hit the island nation.
Western parts of the country are still recovering from the most powerful typhoon that hit Japan in a quarter of a century, killing 11 people and shutting down the main regional airport.
Japan is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where numerous earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are recorded.
On March 11, 2011, an earthquake of magnitude 9.0 was devastating under the Pacific Ocean and the resulting tsunami caused considerable damage and left thousands dead.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Atsuma, a small rural town that experienced most of the earthquake-related deaths
Abe's visit comes as search and rescue operations continue 24 hours a day to find those who remain missing
