11 Indirect Deaths Confirmed after Kumamoto Quakes

Kumamoto, April 20 (Jiji Press)--Eleven people have died of causes indirectly related to a string of strong earthquakes in Kumamoto Prefecture and nearby areas since last week, the Kumamoto prefectural government said Wednesday. The death toll from the Kumamoto quakes has risen to 59, including the indirect fatalities and one confirmed death discovered Wednesday in the landslide-hit village of Minamiaso in the prefecture, part of the Kyushu southwestern region. In Minamiaso, two people are still unaccounted for. Of the indirect deaths, seven were in the city of Kumamoto, the capital of the prefecture, two in the town of Mashiki, and one each in the city of Aso and the town of Mifune. Three of the 11 people, aged between 51 and 88, died apparently of symptoms of economy class syndrome. The three, all women, complained of sickness while staying in vehicles parked near their respective houses in the prefectural capital, and died after being transported to hospital. Economy class syndrome, an illness caused by blood clots formed after remaining in the same position for a long time, is also suspected for a person who was sent to hospital from a parking lot of an evacuation facility in Mashiki. About 200 health nurses visited evacuees staying in vehicles and advised them to move their bodies occasionally to prevent economy class syndrome. In a further sign of recovery for infrastructure in the region, meanwhile, Kyushu Railway Co., or JR Kyushu, reopened on Wednesday a section of the Kyushu Shinkansen Line between Shin-Minamata Station in Kumamoto Prefecture and Kagoshima-Chuo Station in Kagoshima Prefecture, south of Kumamoto, after five days of full closure. But it remains uncertain when the operator will be able to reopen the remaining section between Shin-Minamata and Hakata Station in Fukuoka Prefecture, north of Kumamoto, due to damage to rails and facilities, as well as ongoing work to remove a train that derailed while out of service. Although commercial flights have been resumed at Aso Kumamoto Airport in Kumamoto Prefecture, the number of domestic flights to and from the airport is still 30 pct less than the normal level. In the prefecture, power supplies were fully restored, excluding in heavily damaged districts, according to Kyushu Electric Power Co. <9508>. Since a magnitude-6.5 foreshock struck on Thursday night, the number of quakes measuring one or higher on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 has topped 700 in the Kumamoto and Aso regions of Kumamoto Prefecture and the central region of neighboring Oita Prefecture. Of the quakes, 17 registered lower 5 or higher, including the 7.3-magnitude main temblor early Saturday. "Unprecedented levels of seismic activity are continuing in a broad range of areas," Gen Aoki, chief of the Japan Meteorological Agency's earthquake and tsunami monitoring division, said. Self-Defense Forces personnel and others continued search for people missing in Minamiaso. The number of evacuees in Kumamoto stood at some 92,000 as of 1:30 p.m. Wednesday (4:30 a.m. GMT), while many people stayed in vehicles due to fears of housing collapses. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has asked the operators of hotels and other accommodation facilities across Kyushu through related industry organizations to accept people affected by the disaster. The ministry has also called for support from prefectural governments, including offers of vacant rooms in public housing, and asked the Japan Prefabricated Construction Suppliers and Manufacturers Association to build temporary housing facilities for disaster-affected people. For the provision of food and daily goods to affected people, including those taking shelter at evacuation centers, the Japanese government decided at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday to use 2,340 million yen from the 350-billion-yen reserve funds set aside under its budget for fiscal 2016. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press conference in Tokyo that pledged deliveries of 900,000 meals to disaster-hit areas have been completed and that the government will send 900,000 additional meals in stages. END