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TOKYO – Rescuers scratched out mud, trees and debris on Friday in search of survivors of a major earthquake in northern Japan, which killed at least 16 people, some in a village buried by landslides. ground.
The government said 26 people were missing on Friday on Hokkaido Island after a magnitude 6.6 earthquake that struck before dawn on Thursday, which left almost every 2.95 million homes without electricity on the island. island.
The region's main airport, near the epicenter of the quake, was shut down on Thursday after suffering structural damage, including collapsed walls and broken water pipes. He reopened Friday morning at some flights.
Photos of the most affected areas of Hokkaido, one of Japan's least populated areas, show collapsed buildings and broken slabs. At least one person was killed in the regional capital of Sapporo, the fifth largest city in the country.
The earthquake is the last natural disaster to hit Japan this summer; Record heat, floods and the most powerful typhoon in 25 years have already killed hundreds of people across the country.
Friday morning, 16 people were confirmed dead, said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Local authorities in Hokkaido said more than 100 people were injured.
The television images showed several landslides near the village of Atsuma, where mountain ridges had collapsed, engulfing many houses. The government has sent 25,000 members of the national army, the Self-Defense Forces, to assist with the rescue and recovery.
Power has been restored in some homes, said government spokesman Yoshihide Suga. It would take at least a week to restore full power to the island.
The temporary closure of Hokkaido's main airport after the earthquake was another blow to the booming tourism industry after Tuesday's closure of Kansai airport near Osaka after a massive typhoon.
The United States Geological Survey reported that the last earthquake had a magnitude of 6.6, while with the Japanese earthquake vibration intensity system, it recorded a maximum value of 7 at a place near the epicenter.
Write to Alastair Gale at [email protected]
