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Police are searching for missing persons on the site of a landslide caused by an earthquake in the city of Atsuma, Hokkaido, northern Japan, Friday, September 7, 2018. A powerful earthquake struck early Thursday. large areas of the main island of Hokkaido as well as power loss. (Eugene Hoshiko / Associated Press)
ATSUMA, Japan – The earthquake that swept the main island of Hokkaido, north of Japan, reached 20 people on Friday, and another 19 people are still missing in a small town after the collapse of a mountainside.
The region is slowly restoring transport links and electricity, with lights back in about half of the island's homes, or 5.4 million people after a day of blackouts throughout the region. Officials said they hoped the production capacity would be close to normal over the weekend, although the complete repair of the Hokkaido power plant could take up to a week.
Rescuers used search dogs, backhoes and shovels to dig tons of mud and debris from landslides caused by the magnitude 6.7 earthquake that struck before dawn on Thursday.
After more than one day of searches, there were no cases of survivors being pulled from their crushed homes on the outskirts of Atsuma town, not far from the epicenter of the earthquake.
There was little sign of damage inside even Atsuma, a coastal community of about 4,600 inhabitants that stands as a destination for surfing and an exceptional lifestyle. But by the end of Friday, the power still had not been restored and the shops were closed.
"There are no supplies, so the store just can not work. It's difficult, "said Yasuhiro Kurosaki, a young father whose wife was holding his son down from his father's small supermarket. Shelves inside the darkened shop were bare, except for a few boxes of chips.
Most residents sought meals, water and shelter at the local social services office.
Farther inland, unharvested rice paddies stretched past a long expanse of hills that collapsed in one fell swoop, dragging land and wood onto houses. nestled on the edge of the mountain.
Of the 20 confirmed or presumed dead, 17 were from Atsuma.
In the regional capital, Sapporo, lighting and water were restored in many areas the day after the blackout on the entire island. High-speed trains have resumed and Chitose airport has reopened.
Parts of the city were badly damaged, houses were destroyed and roads collapsed. A mudslide left several cars half buried and the ground sank in some areas, leaving evacuation pipes and sewer plates protruding by more than one meter ( yard) in some places.
"It's shocking. I was always walking down that street and I never imagined that this road could collapse in this way, "said Noriyuki Sumi, a resident. "But if you think positively, imagine if I walked here when that would happen. I may have lost my life. So, I try to think that I'm lucky in this unfortunate situation.
The Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Hiroshige Seko, said it would take at least a week to restore power to all communities because of damage to the Tomato thermal power station. Atsuma.
"We are trying to do it faster, but it will probably take a week," Seko said. He urged residents to retain power.
Japan has experienced a series of natural disasters in recent months. The earthquake followed a typhoon that lifted heavy trucks and caused major floods in western Japan, damaging the main airport near Osaka and Kobe. The summer has also been marked by devastating floods and landslides due to torrential rains in Hiroshima and extremely high temperatures in the country.
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Yamaguchi brought back from Tokyo. Elaine Kurtenbach, editor at the Associated Press in Tokyo, contributed to this report.
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, disseminated, rewritten or redistributed.
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