The death toll from a major earthquake in western Japan reached 100 on Saturday, as rescue workers fought aftershocks to carefully pull people from the rubbles.
Deaths had reached 98 earlier in the day, but two more deaths were reported in Anamizu, while officials in Ishikawa prefecture, the hardest-hit region, held their daily meeting to discuss strategy and damages.
Some survivors who had clung to life for days were freed from collapsed homes. Rescuers pulled out a man 72 hours after a series of powerful quakes started rattling Japan’s western coast.
They lowered the number of missing to 211 as of Saturday, after it shot up two days ago.
Firefighters found an older man alive on Wednesday in a collapsed home in Suzu. Suzu is one of the hardest-hit cities in Ishikawa Prefecture.
His daughter called out, “Dad, dad,” as a flock of firefighters got him out on a stretcher, praising him for holding on for so long after Monday’s 7.6 magnitude earthquake.
The situation forced others to wait while rescuers searched for loved ones.
Ishikawa officials said 59 of those who died were in the city of Wajima and 23 were in Suzu. Others were reported in five neighbouring towns. More than 500 people have been injured, at least 27 seriously.
The Earthquake Research Institute (ERI) at the University of Tokyo found that the sandy coastline in western Japan shifted by up to 250 meters (820 feet) seaward in some places.
The earthquakes set off a large fire in Wajima town, as well as tsunamis and landslides in the region.
With some routes cut off by the destruction, worries grew about communities in which water, food, blankets and medicine had yet to arrive.
Meanwhile, the United States announced $100,000 in aid, on Friday, including blankets, water and medical supplies. Washington also promised more help would come.
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Dodgers major leaguer Shohei Ohtani also announced aid for the Noto area, though he did not disclose the amount.
Experts warned of disease and even death at the evacuation centres that now house about 34,000 people who lost their homes, many of them older.
Masashi Tomari, a 67-year-old oyster farmer, who lives in Anamizu city in Ishikawa, said it was tough sleeping on the floor with just one blanket.
There was no heating until two stoves finally arrived on Thursday — three days after the 7.6 quake struck.
Tomari felt at a loss thinking about his home, where broken glass and knocked over items littered the floor. It was pitch dark at night because the area was still out of power.
But Tomari and others were already thinking about rebuilding.
Sachiko Kato, who owns a clothing shop in Anamizu, put up a yellow notice as a warning inside her store where the walls have tipped slanted. She also put a red notice for the shed in the back.
“So many stores were on this street. Now, they’re all gone. Maybe we can work hard to rebuild,” Kato said.
As of Friday, there is still scarcity of running water in Anamizu. Kato had to get water from a nearby river to flush the toilet.
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