This Thursday, rescue teams raced against time to find what are believed to be the last survivors of the accident earthquake that rocked Monday Central Japan and that resulted in at least 82 dead and 79 missing.
The Ishikawa Prefecturein the western part of the center of the island of Honshu (the main island of the country), was the place where the earthquake occurred and where the greatest human and material losses reported by local authorities are currently concentrated.
Locations like Wajima (27,000 inhabitants) or Suzu (14,000) are the focus of the military and rescue team as 72 hours have passed today (the period after which it is considered very difficult to find survivors buried under the rubble). 7.6 magnitude quake whose epicenter was a few kilometers from both cities.
Damage caused by the earthquake in one of the affected cities. / EFE/EPA/FRANCK ROBICHON
The Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio KishidaHe called for “maximum efforts” to try to find living people in the region. Wajima alone has 48 dead and 36 missing, while in Suzu 23 have lost their lives and 32 of their neighbors are still missing.
Hundreds of people without contact with the outside world
Access problems are another major problem for rescue workers and the population, as in these two communities alone there are still 750 people living incommunicado due to the earthquake that raised the ground Height differences of four metersHa destroyed countless roads and streets.
Experts have also warned Replicas This week and next could be of great intensity, in addition to warnings that the rains hitting the area could cause landslides and make rescue operations even more difficult.
Today the number is wounded in Ishikawa the number exceeds 300, including serious and minor injuries, while an estimated 300 are injured across the prefecture More than 200 buildings collapsedAround 34,000 people remain in evacuation centers.
More than 200 buildings collapsed as a result of the earthquake. / EFE/EPA/FRANCK ROBICHON
The fact that the earthquake occurred during January 1st, when many people had traveled to the region to celebrate the New Year with their families, has led to more people being evacuated than local authorities typically estimate. In addition, information from the Japanese network NHK speaks of a lack of food, water or warm clothing in some accommodations.
See you this Thursday for some 2,000 members of the Self-Defense Forces (Army) were also deployed in the region 22 aircraft and eight ships The resources originally deployed will be doubled for rescue operations and the collection of damage information.
A collateral catastrophe
As a collateral effect, on Tuesday a Coast Guard aircraft prepared to transport food and water to those affected by this earthquake crashed on the runway of Tokyo International Airport against a commercial aircraft with 379 passengers on board. When the plane caught fire, everyone was evacuated and brought to safety, but not five of the small plane's six passengers who died in the accident.
The crash on the runway of Haneda Airport (Tokyo) involved a commercial airliner and a plane carrying supplies for those affected by the earthquake. / EFE/EPA/JIJI PRESS
The Japanese government has said it will use about 4 billion yen (about $28 million) in emergency funds to increase aid in Ishikawa, including doubling the current deployment of Self-Defense Force members to 4,600.
The earthquake struck the area around the Noto Peninsula – an area known to experience earthquakes active errors– at 4:10 p.m. local time and had its epicenter 30 kilometers northeast of Wajima Maximum level 7 on the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) seismic scale.
The focus here is on the destructive power of tremors, taking into account that at rank 7 it is impossible to stand and only move when crawling on the ground. Monday's earthquake is the first level 7 quake recorded in the country since 2018, when an earthquake of this magnitude hit a sparsely populated area of Hokkaido island.
Empty Japan affected
Just as there is a deflated Spain, the same is happening in Japan. Empty rural Japan was the epicenter of this earthquake. old buildings and a aging population have contributed to a greater impact in a country well prepared for disasters of this kind.
The area most affected by the strong earthquake, quiet Ishikawa Prefecture, about 500 kilometers from Tokyo, embodies this perfectly Demographic problem that the country is suffering. It also reflects Japan's few vulnerable points in the face of frequent earthquakes.
The small and aging population of the affected region, which is struggling to quickly comply with evacuation protocols, is added to the age of some homes that are not prepared to withstand shocks of the caliber of the last one. Difference from houses in urban areas.
Conversely, any other inhabited place in the world could likely be more vulnerable to a much larger tragedy following an earthquake like this one.
Urban planning and disaster management
Several Tectonic plates converge beneath JapanSo, used to earthquakes that usually don't leave as much destruction as the one on January 1st, a Resilient urban development and disaster management at the peak of its geographical location.
Seismic movements have occurred throughout the country's history painful disasterslike the 2011 earthquake and tsunami or the Great Kanto earthquake 100 years ago, which left 105,385 people dead or missing and sparked flames that burned half of Tokyo and part of neighboring Yokohama.
Thereafter, the country acquired extensive knowledge in risk assessment and formulation of countermeasures, which led to it becoming a Town planning to mitigate potential disasters rather than react to them after they have already occurred.
Evacuation areas in each neighborhood, blocks separated by wide spaces such as avenues or canals that serve as firebreaks, and fireproof buildings are these three pillars this would support cities in the event of a disaster.
An example visible in Tokyo Part of this planning involves building large apartment blocks or tall buildings at the front line of residential properties, so that the hulks surround the lower-lying houses and act as a “wall” to prevent the flames from advancing.
Modern Tokyo contrasts with rural Japan. / Benh Lieu Song
However, that is The country's rural areas are not as prepared and the characteristics of their old designs prevent them from withstanding and overcoming severe shocks.
Collapsed houses, broken asphalt and shocked families depict days of human tragedy in Japan, which has experienced the New Year in an eventful way.
The demographic problem of rural Japan
He Japanese landscapewhere around 8% of the Japanese population lives, there are numerous “Ghost towns“Official statistics put the number at around 8.5 million left houses (known as 'Akiya') in Japan, although estimates put the actual number at nearly 11 million.
The government estimates that “Akiya” will make up 30% of Japanese households in the next decade and has been trying to reverse the situation for several years Churn Prevention Programsespecially young people.
In January last year, the executive branch under Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced that families moving from Tokyo to the countryside would receive compensation of 1 million yen per child. The initiative has been questioned by many who doubt that the plan can keep residents of the Tokyo metropolitan area away from the capital.
Well, far from the capital, last Monday's earthquake was the most devastating in Japan since the Kumamoto Prefecture earthquake in 2016 (which killed more than 200 people).
Risks associated with earthquakes
In addition, an alarm had to be activated for hours due to the quake Tsunami the highest category (those implemented when waves of more than three meters are expected), the first time this has happened in the country since the magnitude 9 earthquake that hit the northeast of the country in 2011.
This earthquake triggered a tsunami that killed more than 20,000 people and led to the partial meltdown of three reactors in the region Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plantthe worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl (Ukraine) in 1986.