Death toll climbs to 78 in Japan earthquake, 51 still missing

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – The death toll in Japan due to massive earthquakes climbed to 78 on Thursday, local media said.

Whereabouts of at least 51 others remain unknown and have been declared “unaccounted for,” Tokyo-based Kyodo News reported.

Central Japan has been hit by many earthquakes since Monday afternoon with magnitudes as strong as 7.6, causing widespread devastations, as many areas are yet disconnected.

Japan has been hit by around 600 tremors since Monday.

The epicenter of the earthquake was in the Noto region facing the Sea of Japan.

Ishikawa province is the hardest-hit where most of the deaths were reported and saw massive destruction of buildings, mostly in Wajima city where people are reportedly still under the rubble. Thousands of households are without electricity.

Japan has deployed thousands of soldiers in search and rescue operations while bad weather also affected the post-earthquake operations.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida emphasized an “all-out effort” to save “as many lives as possible during the first 72 hours of the disaster.”

His government is mulling to grant around 4 billion yen ($28 million) in response to the disaster.

More forces were deployed for search and rescue efforts, while number of evacuated people in Ishikawa province rose to around 34,000, while some 110,000 households in Ishikawa, Toyama and Niigata provinces are still without water.