Japan earthquakes death toll climbs to at least 48 as temblors continue rocking country’s west

A series of powerful earthquakes hit western Japan, leaving at least 48 people dead and damaging thousands of buildings, vehicles and boats, with officials warning people in some areas to stay away from their homes because of a risk of more strong quakes. Aftershocks continued to shake Ishikawa prefecture and nearby areas a day after a magnitude 7.6 temblor slammed the area on Monday January 1st 2024 afternoon. 48 people were confirmed dead in Ishikawa, with the casualties concentrated in the cities of Wajima and Suzu.

At least 14 others were seriously injured, while damage to homes was so great that it could not immediately be assessed. Tens of thousands of homes were destroyed. Water, power, and cellphone service were still down in some areas, and residents expressed sorrow about their destroyed homes and uncertain futures. It is not just that it is a mess. The wall has collapsed, and you can see through to the next room.

Residents can not live here anymore. Japan’s military dispatched 1,000 soldiers to the disaster zones to join rescue efforts. Saving lives is the priority and they are fighting a battle against time. It is critical that people trapped in homes get rescued immediately. A quake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.6 shook the Ishikawa area. Firefighters managed to bring a fire under control in Wajima city which had reddened the sky with embers and smoke.

Several fires in Wajima had engulfed more than 200 structures and there were more than a dozen reports of people being trapped under rubble in the city.

The quake has also caused injuries and structural damage in Niigata, Toyama, Fukui, and Gifu prefectures. It is extremely difficult for vehicles to enter northern areas of the Noto Peninsula. The central government has been coordinating shipment of relief supplies using ships. Nuclear plants in the region were operating normally. A major quake and tsunami in March 2011 caused three reactors to melt and release large amounts of radiation at a nuclear plant in northeastern Japan.

News videos showed rows of collapsed houses. Some wooden structures were flattened and cars were overturned. Half-sunken ships floated in bays where tsunami waves had rolled in, leaving a muddied coastline. 500 people were trapped at Noto Airport in Wajima, including airport staff, passengers, and local residents. Because the airport’s windows were shattered and glass and debris scattered around the terminal, all were sheltering in the parking lot, inside rental cars, and tour buses, with the airport not scheduled to reopen until Thursday January 4th 2024.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) issued a major tsunami warning for Ishikawa and lower-level tsunami warnings or advisories for the rest of the western coast of the country’s main island of Honshu, as well as for the northern island of Hokkaido. The warning was downgraded several hours later, and all tsunami warnings were lifted as of early Tuesday January 2nd 2024. Waves measuring more than 3 feet hit some places.

The JMA warned that more major quakes could hit the area over the next few days.

People who were evacuated from their houses huddled in auditoriums, schools, and community centers. Bullet trains in the region were halted. Sections of highways were closed. Weather forecasters predicted rain, setting off worries about already crumbling buildings and infrastructure. The region includes tourist spots famous for lacquerware and other traditional crafts, along with designated cultural heritage sites.

United States President Joe Biden said in a statement that his administration was ready to provide any necessary assistance for the Japanese people. Japan is frequently hit by earthquakes because of its location along the “Ring of Fire”, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin. Japan has experienced about a hundred aftershocks. Although RSI divergence suggests a degree of underlying exhaustion in the recent downtrend, the oscillator continues to track below 30 and in oversold territory.

This could be indicative of further losses in the near-term for the Japanese Yen. The development of the trend-defining 50-day moving average also hints at a potential correction, as it notably flattens out after crossing below its ‘slower’ 200-period counterpart. That being said, the positive steepening of the 50- (122.85) and 200-DMA (120.88) suggests an overall shift in sentiment from bearish to bullish and could see any pullback in EUR/JPY rates significantly supported by an influx of buyers.

Tsunami of up to 16.5 feet high are believed to be reaching Noto in Ishikawa Prefecture.

Waves more than 1m high hit the coast of Wajima City in Ishikawa Prefecture. Hokuriku Electric Power said it is checking for any irregularities at its nuclear power plants. An earthquake of magnitude 7.6 hit Japan, prompting authorities to issue a tsunami warning. Reports of damage were not immediately available. The JMA issued a tsunami warning along the coastal regions of Ishikawa, Niigata, and Toyama prefectures after a series of strong quakes shook western areas.

The JMA reported a quake hitting Ishikawa and nearby prefectures, one of them measuring a preliminary magnitude of 7.4. The JMA issued a major tsunami warning for Ishikawa and lower-level tsunami warnings or advisories for the rest of the northwestern coast of the island of Honshu. Japanese public broadcaster NHK TV warned torrents of water could reach as high as 16.5 feet and urged people to flee to high land or a top of a nearby building as quickly as possible.

The earthquake, which struck on New Year’s Day, was felt in Tokyo and across the Kanto area. An earthquake of magnitude 6.3 on the Richter Scale jolted Japan’s Kuril Islands on Thursday December 28th 2023. The epicenter of the earthquake was found to be at latitude of 44.36 and longitude of 149.23, Kuril Islands, Japan. No casualties have been reported as of yet.

Further details are awaited.

No immediate reports of damage or injuries. A magnitude-5.0 earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean east of Honshu Island at around December 21st 2023 23:04hr. The epicenter was about 38 miles south-southeast of Hasaki, Ibaraki Prefecture. The tremor occurred at a depth of about 6 miles, and light shaking was probably felt throughout parts of eastern Honshu Island.

There have been no initial reports of damage or casualties as a result of the earthquake, however, significant damage is unlikely. It could take several hours until authorities can conduct comprehensive damage assessments, especially in remote areas. Light aftershocks are likely over the coming days. The event has not prompted any tsunami advisories. Officials may temporarily shut down transportation infrastructure in the tremor zone to check for damage.

Minor disruptions could occur during shutdowns, but service will likely resume quickly if no damage is found. Utility outages are possible, particularly near the earthquake’s epicenter. In August 2020, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe returned to the hospital on the day he became the country’s longest serving head of government in terms of consecutive days in office. Abe, leader of the world’s third-largest economy, has now served 2,799 consecutive days as Prime Minister, surpassing the previous record set by his great-uncle, Prime Minister Eisaku Sato, who stepped down in 1972.

Abe did not say what was ailing him, but expressed support to those who have supported him even during very difficult times.

While seeing to his health, Abe would like to do his best in his work. Abe suffers from colitis, a non-curable inflammatory bowel disease, which forced him to resign during his first stint as Japan’s leader from 2006 to 2007. Abe became Prime Minister again in 2012, finally closing a revolving door of Japanese leaders. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the visit was a follow-up to a checkup and has not seen any notable change from Abe.

It is unclear exactly how serious Abe’s health concerns are, but many in his inner circle said that medication was keeping his condition in check. As leader, Abe has been credited for reviving Japan’s stagnant economy, though major issues like massive government debt and an aging population loom large. It was the first time Abe’s health had become a talking point in Japanese politics in years.

Abe is already facing criticism for his handling of Japan’s covid outbreak, and has seen support among voters drop, adding to speculation that he could resign. Abe spent spent more than six hours at a hospital in Tokyo for ongoing intestine sickness. While there have been no outright comments from the government that Abe’s latest health issues could force him to step down, his handling of the pandemic and the ensuing economic crisis has provided his political opponents with an opening.

Cases of covid have been rising throughout Japan since mid-July 2020. While government officials and doctors say the higher caseload is the result of more testing, they also say the rise in the number of critically ill is worrying in one of the fastest graying societies in the world.

Fatigue over social distancing measures is fueling defiance among some, and the streets of Tokyo have started to fill during the day. More than half of the 63,219 cases that have been identified in Japan since the pandemic began have been recorded since July 1st 2020, but the government has said it has no plans to declare a state of emergency, as it did during the country’s first outbreak. Covid has also severely dented economic activity and upended much of the Prime Minister’s so-called “Abenomics” agenda that sought to pull Japan out of years of deflation.

Japan reported its worst drop in GDP on record, shrinking 7.8% in the second quarter compared with the previous quarter. That translated to an annual rate of decline of 27.8%, the worst since modern records started in 1980. Public opinion of Abe’s handling of the covid outbreak and the associated economic downturn has also faltered. A poll by one of Japan’s biggest newspapers found that 58.4% of people were not content with Abe’s handling of the pandemic.

Abe’s approval rating dipped to 36%, the lowest it has been since he took office for a second time in 2012. Abe’s rivals and opposition parties have been jockeying for position in readiness for the prospect of the Prime Minister stepping down because of his handling of covid and the deepening recession. Political analysts say Abe’s health has added another layer of uncertainty and urgency about his future.