Japan earthquake death toll rises to 48 as military joins relief effort

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Japan dispatched 10,000 of its military forces to help rescue and relief efforts after a powerful earthquake on the west coast on New Year’s Day left at least 48 dead and dozens injured.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Tuesday that authorities were in a “battle against time” to respond to the emergency, as daylight and the lifting of the previous night’s tsunami warnings allowed a fuller picture of the devastation.

“We are going to continue our efforts from overnight to make sure that we can get the necessary supplies and personnel into the areas by fully mobilising not just land transport but also routes via air and sea,” Kishida said.

Rescuers were searching for survivors in a seven-storey building that toppled on to its side, as well as in the remnants of more than 100 homes that caught fire in the aftermath of the earthquake and its aftershocks.

Their efforts have been hindered by significant damage to roads and other infrastructure, especially in the most heavily hit area of the Noto peninsula in central Japan.

Officials in Ishikawa prefecture, the worst hit, said 48 people had died. Of those, 20 deaths were reported in the city of Suzu, while 19 were in the city of Wajima, where a large fire broke out in a market popular with tourists.

“Our city is in a catastrophic state,” said Masahiro Izumiya, mayor of Suzu. “Water and power have been cut off across the entire area and we are concerned that the situation could last a long period.”

Aerial footage from Japanese media showed a series of large landslides, collapsed coastal roads, fallen trees and, in one port town, a long defensive sea wall that appeared to have fallen during Monday’s tsunami.

Other images showed smoke rising from flattened wooden homes, flooded streets and dozens of capsized boats across an area that is not heavily industrialised but has a significant fishing fleet.

The first quake, with a preliminary magnitude of 7.6, struck the Noto region in Ishikawa prefecture on Monday afternoon. It caused tsunami waves of about 1 metre on parts of Japan’s west coast, prompting residents to evacuate to higher ground and leaving homes without power, water and mobile service access.

Nearly 200 aftershocks have further complicated efforts to restore power and other basic infrastructure. Tens of thousands of residents in Ishikawa remain in school gymnasiums and other public buildings.

The quake hit during one of Japan’s busiest holiday periods, when families were celebrating the new year with large family gatherings. Rail service remains disrupted and authorities said Noto’s airport, close to the quake’s epicentre, would be shut until at least Thursday.

More than 33,000 homes in the prefecture remained without power on Tuesday, according to the Hokuriku Electric Power Company. Many others were without water, leaving people reliant on water trucks and emergency tanks.

Ishikawa has a population of 1.1mn, including a high proportion of elderly residents. Many of its towns and villages are dotted with some of Japan’s estimated 10mn vacant homes, many of which are in severe disrepair and more vulnerable to collapse.