Japan quake death toll jumps to 161, with 103 still missing

The death toll from Japan’s New Year’s Day earthquake has jumped to 161 from 128 overnight, the authorities said on January 8 as snow complicated rescue efforts, Report informs referring to The Straits Times.

The number of people unaccounted for fell to 103 from 195, according to the authorities in the central Ishikawa region that was hit by the 7.5-magnitude quake.

The shock waves toppled buildings, sparked a major fire, and triggered tsunami waves over a meter high.

Thousands of rescuers have been drafted in from all over Japan, their work complicated by roads being cut off by the quake and an estimated 1,000 landslides.

In the last two days, the region has been blanketed in snow, making the operation harder still.

Against the odds, a woman in her 90s survived for five days under the wreckage of a collapsed house in the city of Suzu on the hard-hit Noto Peninsula before she was saved on Jan 6.

Continuous rain has increased the risk of fresh landslides, while heavy snow could cause more buildings to collapse under its weight, the regional government warned.

At least 2,000 people in many communities on the remote peninsula have been cut off by damaged roads, with some of an estimated 1,000 landslides also blocking aid vehicles.

That means relief materials have been slow to reach areas suffering water and power outages.

Around 20,700 households in the wider Ishikawa region remained without electricity on January 7. More than 66,100 households were without water.