UPDATE 2 - Japan quake death toll rises to 48 as troops join rescue, relief efforts

UPDATES WITH PLANE CRASH FATALITIES, POWER CUT IN NUCLEAR POWER PLANT, SOUTH KOREAN STATEMENT; CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – The death toll from powerful earthquakes in Japan climbed to 48 on Tuesday, as the country deployed troops for rescue and relief operations, local media reported.

At least 48 people have been confirmed dead in Ishikawa province, located along the seacoast on the main Honshu Island, according to public broadcaster NHK.

It added that many people were injured in Ishikawa, Niigata, Fukui, Toyama, and Gifu provinces.

The Defense Ministry said it was mobilizing joint land, air and sea forces, and deploying around 10,000 soldiers in the affected province for rescue, relief and support operations.

Central Japan has been stricken by many earthquakes since Monday afternoon with magnitudes as strong as 7.6, triggering a tsunami warning, a large fire and four-feet-high waves.

The tsunami warning was later lifted by the authorities.

Many houses and roads collapsed, while train services were suspended following the earthquakes.

Tens of hundreds of people were evacuated to safer places.

People were stuck inside some buildings in the city of Wajima city in Ishikawa while firefighters were still trying to locate them.

Some 200 buildings, including shops and houses, were burnt around the Asaichi Street, a popular tourist attraction.

Videos and pictures broadcast by NHK showed many houses across Ishikawa collapsed, while small boats capsized in the waters offshore.

Some 500 passengers were stranded at Noto Airport in the province, as earthquakes caused extensive damage to the terminal building and left the runway and roads unusable.

According to Japan’s Geospatial Information Authority, the earthquakes may have shifted land in the Noto region up to 1.3 meters (4.2 feet) to the west.

In Tokyo, at least five crew members were killed when an aircraft of Japan Airlines collided with a plane carrying relief material for earthquakes-hit people, police said.

The crew belonged to the Japan Coast Guard, which also owned the plane, and the incident happened at Haneda airport.

- Electricity supply to nuclear power plant ‘unusable’

The electricity supply to the Shika nuclear power plant remains “partially unusable” following the earthquakes, according to the Hokuriku Electric Power Company.

Although the two reactors of the facility were already taken off long before tremors hit Japan on Monday, the operator said: “Seismic activity of upper 5 on the Japanese scale was observed in a basement floor of the No.1 reactor building.”

“Two transformers used to receive electricity are experiencing problems due to damaged pipes, with oil for insulation and cooling leaking out,” the officials said, according to NHK.

They added that the reactors are “receiving electricity from other means.”

- South Korea protests

Meanwhile, South Korea Tuesday protested Tokyo’s move to show disputed islets of Dokdo in a weather advisory issued after earthquakes hit central Japan.

“Our government has strongly protested against Japan through a diplomatic channel and demanded corrective measures,” said the Foreign Ministry, according to Seoul-based Yonhap News.

South Korea effectively controls the islets, which Tokyo refers to as Takeshima and claims as its territory.