Thread: Twin quakes kills at least 29 in south Japan; many trapped

MASHIKI, Japan (AP) -- Two powerful earthquakes a day apart shook southwestern Japan, killing at least 29 people, trapping many others beneath flattened homes and sending thousands of residents to seek refuge in gymnasiums and hotel lobbies.

The exact number of casualties remained unclear as rescue efforts continued to unfold Saturday.

Kumamoto Prefectural official Tomoyuki Tanaka said the death tolls were climbing by the hour, with the latest standing at 19 from Saturday's magnitude-7.3 quake that shook the Kumamoto region on the southwestern island of Kyushu at 1:25 a.m. On Thursday night, Kyushu was hit by a magnitude-6.5 quake that left 10 dead and more than 800 injured. Tanaka said reports on injuries were changing fast and he did not yet have any number.

A series of aftershocks ensued, including a magnitude-5.4 Saturday morning. The Japan Meteorological Agency said that the quake that struck earlier Saturday may be the main quake, with the earlier one a precursor. The quakes' epicenters have been relatively shallow -- about 10 kilometers (6 miles) -- and close to the surface, resulting in more severe shaking and damage.

Japanese media reported that nearly 200,000 homes were without electricity. Drinking water systems had also failed in the area. Japanese TV news footage showed people huddled in blankets, quietly, shoulder to shoulder, on floors of evacuation centers.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, in an emergency news conference early Saturday, said more than 300 calls came in to the Kumamoto police and another 100 to police in nearby Oita, seeking help and reporting people trapped or buried underneath debris. He said 1,600 soldiers joined rescue efforts. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said damage from the magnitude-7.3 quake could be extensive.

The Nuclear Regulation Authority reported no abnormalities at Kyushu's Sendai nuclear plant.

Public broadcaster NHK TV showed stones tumbled from the walls of historic Kumamoto Castle, and a wooden structure in the complex was smashed. At the Ark Hotel, east of the castle, hotel guests woke up to strong shaking and a warning siren. Hotel staff told guests, including tourists and journalists covering the quake, to evacuate their rooms and gather in the lobby for safety.

A bright spot, broadcast repeatedly on television Friday, was the overnight rescue of an apparently uninjured baby, wrapped in a blanket and carried out of the rubble of a home.

Saturday's quake hit residents who were still in shock from the previous night's earthquake and had suffered through more than 100 aftershocks.

Yuichiro Yoshikado said Thursday's quake stuck as he was taking a bath in his apartment in Mashiki.

"I grabbed onto the sides of the bathtub, but the water in the tub, it was about 70 percent filled with water, was going like this," he said, waving his arms, "and all the water splashed out."

"It's as if all control was lost. I thought I was going to die and I couldn't bear it any longer."

Yoshikado, whose building was undamaged despite the intense shaking, checked the damage at his aunt and uncle's home nearby. Kitchenware was scattered on the floor, and a clock had stopped around 9:26 p.m., the time of Thursday's quake.

The latest victim of Thursday's quake was killed in a fire in the city of Yatsushiro, the Kumamoto prefecture said, adding that two other people were in a state of heart and lung failure. The nine other dead included five women and four men, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said.

Twin quakes kills at least 29 in south Japan; many trapped - The Mainichi

Dozens Still Trapped After Second Japanese Earthquake


A university student (R) takes a rest in front of their collapsed apartment caused by earthquakes in Minamiaso town, Kumamoto prefecture, southern Japan, in this photo taken by Kyodo, April 16, 2016.

TOKYO—
Tens of thousands of traumatized Japanese are spending a third night in evacuation centers as powerful aftershocks rock the southern main island of Kyushu.

At least 41 people have died and nearly 2,000 have been injured since Thursday as a result of the strongest tremors. The quakes have collapsed buildings and bridges, triggered landslides and even derailed a bullet train.

Early Sunday, rescuers were battling harsh weather conditions in a race to rescue as many as 100 people still trapped or buried under collapsed buildings in Kumamoto Prefecture.

Mobilization

Tens of thousands of police, medics, firemen and self-defense force troops are involved in the rescue and recovery effort, which is being hampered by heavy winds and rain.

The quakes have sent more than 90,000 people to evacuation centers at schools and local government buildings, according to officials.

The Japan Meteorological Agency placed the magnitude of Saturday's quake at 7.3, which followed Thursday's 6.5 tremor. Both were at shallow depths, onshore and located under populated areas.

Asked by VOA News whether he concurred with JMA's assessment that Thursday's shallow temblor was a foreshock to the stronger quake on Saturday, University of Tokyo professor of geophysics Robert Geller said, "Now I would. But if there is a M7.6, say, tomorrow, we'd have to revise that again. Highly unlikely; yes. Completely impossible: no."

Geller added that the series of powerful quakes in Kumamoto prefecture is not uncommon.

"For example, there was a magnitude 7.3 quake two days before the magnitude 9.0 Tohoku quake in 2011," he said.

An active volcano in the area, Mt. Aso, also erupted for the first time in a month, although Japanese authorities said the eruption was not linked to the quake.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had planned to visit Kumamoto, 1,200 kilometers southwest of the capital, to survey the damage, but has decided to avoid the area while aftershocks continue. More than 250 detectable tremors, located in or near the Beppu-Shimabara rift zone, have been reported since Thursday's earthquake.

Abe has ordered troop reinforcements to the region to "concentrate the government's full capacity into the rescue, evacuation and life-saving operations."

The two quakes toppled buildings and caused a large fire at an apartment complex in Yatsushiro city. Officials said they fear more people are trapped or buried beneath the rubble of buildings.

Aso Shrine

The historic Aso Shrine, more than 1,700 years old, suffered a great deal of damage. Part of a wall in the historic Kumamoto castle also collapsed. Several buildings and a gate known as the "cherry blossom gate" have collapsed entirely.


Romon gate (bottom R), designated as a nationally important cultural property, and other buildings damaged by an earthquake are seen at Aso Shrine in Aso, Kumamoto prefecture, southern Japan, in this photo taken by Kyodo, April 16, 2016.

One bright spot was the televised rescue of a baby who was carried out of the debris of a collapsed home.

More than 80,000 homes in Kumamoto Prefecture remained without electricity early Sunday and water service has been disrupted in some areas, forcing residents to haul water from local offices to their homes.

Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said there are no apparent abnormalities at nearby nuclear facilities. The epicenter of the first quake was about 120 kilometers northeast of the country's only operating nuclear plant.

Most of Japan's other nuclear reactors remain offline after a M9.0 earthquake in March 2011 triggered a huge tsunami that caused catastrophic damage to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Dozens Still Trapped After Second Japanese Earthquake

Thai embassy tries to help evacuate 50 Thais from earthquake-hit Kumamoto prefecture

The Thai embassy in Tokyo has been coordinating with Japanese officials to help evacuate to safety about 50 Thai students and tourists trapped in Kumamoto prefecture following Thursday’s earthquake and aftershocks.

In its Facebook page, the Thai embassy said that there is a high possibility that cars will be sent in to pick up the trapped Thai people by Sunday following confirmation from authorities that the road condition is safe enough.

The embassy said cars would be parked on the board between the library of Kumamoto University and Sengka Kukue-eku building with English-speaking volunteers on hand to offer help.

The trapped victims will be evacuated to Fuku-oka prefecture, said the embassy.

The hotline numbers of the Thai embassy in Tokyo are +81 90 4435 7812 and + 81 90 1216 3168. Or the Call Centre of the Consular Department at 02 572-8442.

Thai embassy tries to help evacuate 50 Thais from earthquake-hit Kumamoto prefecture - Thai PBS English News

US Forces Join Japan Quake Recovery Effort



TOKYO—
Four U.S. Marine Corps V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft took off from Okinawa Sunday as American forces in Japan joined the earthquake recovery effort in the southern part of the country.

“We are working closely with the government of Japan to provide assistance and support. To the people of Japan and the region affected by this tragedy we send our heartfelt sympathies,” said Air Force Lt. Gen. John Dolan, commander of U.S. Forces Japan, in a statement, which did not provide any further details on the scope of the military assistance being provided.

The United States had offered support for airlift operations and the Defense Ministry in Tokyo is coordinating with USFJ to implement as soon as ready, Kenko Sone, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s director of global communications, told VOA.

Aiding in rescue

Abe on Sunday boosted to 25,000 the number of Self Defense Force troops aiding in the rescue and recovery on the main southern island of Kyushu.

Strong aftershocks continue to rattle Kumamoto Prefecture (state) as rescuers confront harsh weather conditions in a race to rescue dozens of people believed still trapped or buried under collapsed buildings.

At least 41 people have died, 11 are reported missing – feared buried by landslides or trapped below rubble – and more than 800 have been injured since Thursday as a result of the strongest tremors, according to Japanese government officials and domestic media reports.

A magnitude-6.5 quake on Thursday, seen as a foreshock to the 7.3 tremor early Saturday, collapsed buildings and bridges, triggered fires and landslides and even derailed a bullet train.

Both quakes were at shallow depths, onshore and located under populated areas.

Full scope of tragedy

Some small communities remain cut off and officials say thus they do not yet know the full scope of the tragedy.

The deadly quakes have sent approximately 200,000 people to school gymnasiums, local government buildings and hotel lobbies due to damage and amid fears of further destructive tremors, according to officials in Kumamoto Prefecture.

The central government is making available 900,000 meals, one ton of baby formula and 60,000 diapers for children, said Taro Kono, the Cabinet minister in charge of disaster response.

Abe had planned to visit Kumamoto, 1,200 kilometers southwest of the capital, to survey the damage, but has decided to avoid the area while aftershocks continue.

Aftershocks

More than 450 detectable tremors, located in or near the Beppu-Shimabara rift zone, which consists of multiple active faults, have been reported since Thursday's earthquake.

Seismologists differ in opinion as to whether the series of quakes could trigger strong tremors in other regions of Japan.

Gen Aoki, director of the Japan Meteorological Agency’s Earthquake and Tsunami Observations Division, raised the possibility that Saturday’s powerful tremor has triggered seismic activity in surrounding areas.

Most seismologists agree, however, that potentially dangerous aftershocks will continue in southern Japan for more than a week.

Scheduled passenger service is expected to resume Monday at Kumamoto Airport, located in Mashiki, the city of 32,000 hardest hit by the quakes.

Other transportation in the region also remains disrupted due to passenger train lines halting service and damaged highways.

Shrine damaged

The historic Aso Shrine, more than 1,700 years old, suffered a great deal of damage. Part of a wall at the 400-year-old Kumamoto castle also collapsed.

About 60,000 homes in Kumamoto Prefecture remained without electricity Sunday evening and water service is still disrupted to 300,000 households, according to the Japanese government, forcing residents to haul water from local offices to their homes.

There have been no reported abnormalities at three nearby nuclear facilities, a government spokesman said.

Operations at key manufacturing plants in the area, including those operated by Toyota, Nissan and Sony, have been disrupted by the quakes.

A number of major companies have located factories in the region because it had been thought to be less prone to destructive earthquakes than other areas of Japan.



US Forces Join Japan Quake Recovery Effort