Japanese rescuers race to find survivors as earthquake death toll continues to rise

일본 노토강진 사망자 91명 ‘골든타임’ 경과에도 구조활동 지속 Over in Japan. The death toll continues to rise, now over 90, from Monday's earthquake. Thousands of rescuers pressed on in a search for survivors, hoping to save as many as possible. Jeong Eun-joo has the latest. Japan is facing a “battle against time” to rescue those affected by a series of major earthquakes that struck the central prefecture of Ishikawa on the first day of the new year. The death toll continues to rise as a 7-point-6 magnitude earthquake struck at a shallow depth in the Noto region of Ishikawa and its vicinity on Monday. As of Friday morning at least 91 have been killed, with more than 400 injured and an additional 172 reported missing. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Thursday at a meeting of the emergency disaster response headquarters, urged officials to mobilize all available resources to maximize life-saving efforts and lifeline supply within the first 72 hours of the disaster. Experts say the first 72 hours after earthquakes are especially critical because the prospects for survival greatly diminish after that. Rescue operations, however, have been hindered by badly damaged and blocked roads and one of the area’s airports has been forced to close due to runway cracks. Rainfall on Wednesday in Wajima City has exacerbated search and rescue efforts. Material aid has trickled in but many evacuees remain largely cut off from food, water, electricity, and communications amid freezing temperatures and bad weather. Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism announced on Thursday that a transport ship carrying food and essential supplies was set to arrive in Ishikawa prefecture by Friday evening. The government has pledged it will proactively provide supplies instead of waiting for official requests from local authorities. It also quintupled the number of Self-Defence Force members tasked with rescue operations since Monday, putting the total number of rescuers at about 7,000. The Japan Meteorological Agency has officially named the recent earthquake the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake. Jeong Eun-joo, Arirang News. #earthquake #Japan #tsunami #Ishikawa_Prefecture #golden_time #일본_지진 #골든타임 #Arirang_News #아리랑뉴스 📣 Facebook : 📣 Twitter : 📣 Homepage : 2024-01-05, 18:00 (KST)