TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Rescue Crews Seek Victims Of Japanese Quake

ADVERTISEMENT

The Associated Press

Published: June 15, 2008

KURIHARA, Japan - Rescue squads and military helicopters raced to find 11 people missing after an earthquake in mountainous northern Japan sent hillsides crashing down Saturday, killing at least six and injuring more than 140.

The death toll and property damage were relatively low for a powerful 7.2-magnitude quake because the tremor was centered in thinly populated Iwate prefecture, a jurisdiction about 190 miles north of Tokyo, experts said. Officials said at least 144 people were injured.

Still, damage to roads, railways and other infrastructure was extensive. Many communities were cut off from land transportation. The Japanese military sent helicopters and uniformed troops to deliver emergency supplies and evacuate the injured.

The quake triggered several major landslides, blocking roads and stranding about 100 bathers at a hot spring resort. Crews searching for the missing had to hike mountain trails and dig their way to the worst-hit areas.

Authorities cautioned that the number of casualties could rise as rescue workers reach hard-hit remote areas. The quake shook buildings as far away as Tokyo.

The government responded quickly, mobilizing troops, police and fire department rescue teams to find and care for the injured and to recover the dead.

"Our most important task is to save as many lives as possible, and we are doing the best we can," Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said.

Access, however, was a major obstacle.

The quake, which was followed by more than 150 aftershocks, buckled roads, including one highway that was severed when a stretch of land collapsed, turning it into a sudden drop-off. Trains also were halted throughout most of the region while workers checked the safety of the tracks.

Hundreds of people in several isolated towns with disrupted roads were waiting for rescuers to arrive more than 12 hours after the quake.
Earthquake experts said the destructive power of the quake was substantially less than the 7.9-magnitude earthquake on May 12 that struck southwestern China, where about 87,000 people died or remain missing.

"The seismic energy of the China quake was one order of magnitude greater," Naoshi Hirata, a professor at Tokyo University's Earthquake Research Institute, told Reuters.

"We're getting growing reports of damage, but we can't even get out there to assess the situation with roads closed off because of landslides," said city official Norio Sato in Kurihara, one of the worst-hit cities in northern Miyagi prefecture.

Information from The Washington Post was used in this report.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT