Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Saturday said that the death toll resulting from a massive earthquake that hit central Japan on New Year’s Day has now reached over 100 people.
He stressed the need to improve routes and road conditions to the evacuation centres to deliver more food, water and portable toilets for evacuees.
“We need to strengthen delivery routes for food, water, and portable toilets. We need to improve disposal of human waste, medical assistance from the Disaster Medical Assistance Team, and set up makeshift beds and dividers for privacy. In addition, we need to strengthen police car patrolling for security. We are doing these things to alleviate evacuees’ anxiety. We will continue to make the utmost effort,” Kishida said.
The 7.6 magnitude quake struck western Japan’s Noto peninsula on the afternoon of January 1, flattening homes, triggering a tsunami and cutting off remote communities.
Ishikawa Prefecture on Saturday confirmed 211 people remain missing. The full extent of the damage remains unclear, with rescue teams struggling to reach remote areas due to severed roads and broken infrastructure.
