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Japan PM visits quake-hit Hokkaido as toll rises to 37
TOKYO, Sept 9, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited
the quake-hit northern region of Hokkaido Sunday, as officials confirmed two
more deaths bringing the toll to 37.
Abe toured the city and commercial hub of Sapporo, where Thursday’s 6.6-
magnitude jolt has left houses tilted and roads cracked.
He was scheduled to take a helicopter ride to view the devastation in
Atsuma, a small rural town which has seen most of the deaths caused by the
quake.
A cluster of dwellings in the town were wrecked when a hillside collapsed
from the force of the quake, creating deep brown scars in the landscape.
Abe will later visit residents at evacuation shelters in Atsuma before
meeting Hokkaido governor Harumi Takahashi.
His visit comes as search-and-rescue operations continue around the clock
to find two missing individuals.
The Hokkaido government said the death toll now stood at 37, with one body
yet to be officially pronounced dead by a medical professional.
“There is on-and-off rain at Atsuma. The work is continuing to look for
the missing persons,” a regional disaster management official told AFP.
The central government has dispatched thousands of rescue workers,
including Self-Defence Forces, to look for the missing pair with the aid of
bulldozers, sniffer dogs and helicopters.
All three million households in Hokkaido lost power when Thursday’s quake
damaged a thermal plant supplying electricity to the region.
Power has been nearly restored but officials are asking local residents
and businesses to save energy, particularly after the weekend, as electricity
supplies remain unstable.
The quake was the latest in a string of natural disasters to batter the
island nation.
Western parts of the country are still recovering from the most powerful
typhoon to strike Japan in a quarter of a century, which claimed 11 lives and
shut down the main regional airport.
Japan sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” where many of the world’s
earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are recorded.
On March 11, 2011, a devastating 9.0-magnitude quake struck under the
Pacific Ocean, and the resulting tsunami caused widespread damage and claimed
thousands of lives.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1220 hrs