ID :
168468
Tue, 03/15/2011 - 18:41
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https://www.oananews.org//node/168468
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Aftermath of deadly quake worsens, over 10,000 dead or missing
TOKYO, March 15 Kyodo - The aftermath of the catastrophic earthquake in Japan worsened Tuesday, with fears of the spread of radioactive materials becoming a reality following apparent hydrogen blasts at reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
The number of casualties following last Friday's magnitude 9.0 quake also climbed, with more than 10,000 confirmed dead or reported as missing five days after the quake.
It is the first time since the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake that the number of dead and people unaccounted for in a natural disaster has exceeded 10,000.
Radiation levels shot up even in Tokyo and its vicinity, prompting foreign embassies in Tokyo to urge their nationals in Japan to leave the country, while the transport ministry banned aircraft from flying within 30 kilometers of the troubled nuclear plant.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan urged people living between 20 to 30 kilometers of the plant to stay indoors, after radiation equivalent to 400 times the level to which people can be safely exposed in one year was detected near the No. 3 reactor at the plant.
The National Police Agency said 3,373 people had been confirmed dead in 12 prefectures, while 7,558 remained missing as of 10 p.m. With many unidentified bodies detected in quake-hit coastal areas, however, the final death toll is expected to rise further.
Meanwhile, around 25,000 people have been rescued so far, with a woman in her 70s pulled alive from a house in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, on Tuesday, after 92 hours. The fate of around 8,000 Otsuchi residents, or half of its total population, remains unknown.
Of the around 10,000 people in the town of Minamisanriku in Miyagi Prefecture that the local government had been unable to contact, around 2,000 have now been confirmed alive.
The Japan Meteorological Agency said while the frequency of aftershocks is gradually falling, there is still considerable seismic activity, calling on people to stay alert.
How to deliver vital supplies, including food and fuel, to the survivors in devastated areas remains a major challenge.
There are around 530,000 people staying at more than 2,600 shelters in seven prefectures, and with temperatures in the quake-hit Tohoku region forecast to drop to midwinter levels from Wednesday, there is a shortage of blankets and food.
Miyagi Gov. Yoshihiro Murai told a press conference Monday evening that fuel shortages at hospitals and in devastated coastal areas pose the biggest problem.
Many hospitals cannot cope with seriously injured people due to a lack of medical supplies, while the increasing number of bodies being recovered has overwhelmed local officials.
They have not been able to secure sufficient morgue space and coffins, while the continuing power outage has made it impossible to produce dry ice in which to pack the corpses, according to the officials.
Meanwhile, an increasing number of expressway gas stations, mainly in the Tohoku and Kanto regions, have been giving preference to emergency vehicles heading to quake-hit regions.
On the stock market, the key Nikkei index fell more than 1,000 points to close at 8,605.15. ''It all started with concerns over the safety of the nuclear power plant,'' a senior official at a Japanese brokerage said.
In the face of the ongoing nuclear crisis in Fukushima Prefecture, Chugoku Electric Power Co. has decided to suspend land reclamation for the construction of a reactor at Kaminoseki nuclear power plant in Yamaguchi Prefecture, it said.
To cover the electricity shortage, Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant, implemented rolling power cuts in some areas in the Kanto region surrounding Tokyo for the second straight day, while Tohoku Electric Power Co. said it will introduce electricity rationing from Wednesday.
As the power cuts are expected to continue through the end of April in eastern Japan, and longer in northeastern Japan, concerns are growing that the suspension of factory operations and reduced train services will severely affect the nation's economy and people's daily lives.
Support activities for people affected by the quake and tsunami are being promoted, with prefectural governments and major cities across the country offering the use of at least 13,000 public housing facilities in total to the victims, mostly without charge.
The moves come as more than 500,000 people are staying at shelters in the disaster-stricken areas, while more than 70,000 buildings were destroyed or heavily damaged by the quake, heightening the need for housing.
The city of Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture, meanwhile, started accepting volunteer workers for reconstruction, including people who experienced massive earthquakes in Kobe and Niigata Prefecture, hoping to use their know-how to support the latest quake victims.
The number of casualties following last Friday's magnitude 9.0 quake also climbed, with more than 10,000 confirmed dead or reported as missing five days after the quake.
It is the first time since the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake that the number of dead and people unaccounted for in a natural disaster has exceeded 10,000.
Radiation levels shot up even in Tokyo and its vicinity, prompting foreign embassies in Tokyo to urge their nationals in Japan to leave the country, while the transport ministry banned aircraft from flying within 30 kilometers of the troubled nuclear plant.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan urged people living between 20 to 30 kilometers of the plant to stay indoors, after radiation equivalent to 400 times the level to which people can be safely exposed in one year was detected near the No. 3 reactor at the plant.
The National Police Agency said 3,373 people had been confirmed dead in 12 prefectures, while 7,558 remained missing as of 10 p.m. With many unidentified bodies detected in quake-hit coastal areas, however, the final death toll is expected to rise further.
Meanwhile, around 25,000 people have been rescued so far, with a woman in her 70s pulled alive from a house in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, on Tuesday, after 92 hours. The fate of around 8,000 Otsuchi residents, or half of its total population, remains unknown.
Of the around 10,000 people in the town of Minamisanriku in Miyagi Prefecture that the local government had been unable to contact, around 2,000 have now been confirmed alive.
The Japan Meteorological Agency said while the frequency of aftershocks is gradually falling, there is still considerable seismic activity, calling on people to stay alert.
How to deliver vital supplies, including food and fuel, to the survivors in devastated areas remains a major challenge.
There are around 530,000 people staying at more than 2,600 shelters in seven prefectures, and with temperatures in the quake-hit Tohoku region forecast to drop to midwinter levels from Wednesday, there is a shortage of blankets and food.
Miyagi Gov. Yoshihiro Murai told a press conference Monday evening that fuel shortages at hospitals and in devastated coastal areas pose the biggest problem.
Many hospitals cannot cope with seriously injured people due to a lack of medical supplies, while the increasing number of bodies being recovered has overwhelmed local officials.
They have not been able to secure sufficient morgue space and coffins, while the continuing power outage has made it impossible to produce dry ice in which to pack the corpses, according to the officials.
Meanwhile, an increasing number of expressway gas stations, mainly in the Tohoku and Kanto regions, have been giving preference to emergency vehicles heading to quake-hit regions.
On the stock market, the key Nikkei index fell more than 1,000 points to close at 8,605.15. ''It all started with concerns over the safety of the nuclear power plant,'' a senior official at a Japanese brokerage said.
In the face of the ongoing nuclear crisis in Fukushima Prefecture, Chugoku Electric Power Co. has decided to suspend land reclamation for the construction of a reactor at Kaminoseki nuclear power plant in Yamaguchi Prefecture, it said.
To cover the electricity shortage, Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant, implemented rolling power cuts in some areas in the Kanto region surrounding Tokyo for the second straight day, while Tohoku Electric Power Co. said it will introduce electricity rationing from Wednesday.
As the power cuts are expected to continue through the end of April in eastern Japan, and longer in northeastern Japan, concerns are growing that the suspension of factory operations and reduced train services will severely affect the nation's economy and people's daily lives.
Support activities for people affected by the quake and tsunami are being promoted, with prefectural governments and major cities across the country offering the use of at least 13,000 public housing facilities in total to the victims, mostly without charge.
The moves come as more than 500,000 people are staying at shelters in the disaster-stricken areas, while more than 70,000 buildings were destroyed or heavily damaged by the quake, heightening the need for housing.
The city of Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture, meanwhile, started accepting volunteer workers for reconstruction, including people who experienced massive earthquakes in Kobe and Niigata Prefecture, hoping to use their know-how to support the latest quake victims.
