In pictures: Rescue efforts continue three days after Ishikawa earthquake

January 4, 2024 1

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“It has been over 40 hours since the earthquake and there continue to be many reports of people who need rescue,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told a news conference on Wednesday morning. “We must keep in mind that this is a race against time and continue to put all our labor into rescue efforts, with life-saving as our top priority.”

After the so-called golden 72 hours following an earthquake, the survival rate drops significantly.

As of 8 a.m. on Wednesday, there had been around 130 requests for the rescue of people buried under collapsed buildings. In Suzu, there were over 72 requests for rescue that had yet to be answered. In Noto, Anamizu and Nanao, an estimated total of over 60 people were isolated and cut off from any aid.

Here are scenes from Day 3 after the 7.6 magnitude earthquake that devastated parts of the scenic Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture on New Year’s Day.

Smoke still rises in fire-damaged area in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture.
| KYODO

Shoichi Kobayashi shows a dinner table, with a lantern light, on which he had his New Year’s dinner when an earthquake hit his house in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture.
| REUTERS

People receive a supply of water in Shika, Ishikawa Prefecture.
| KYODO

A man near burned-down remains in Wajima said he did not know of fires following a major quake hitting the area two days before because he lost power and couldn’t watch the news on TV.
| KYODO

Workers repair a road near Anamizu, a town in Ishikawa Prefecture.
| REUTERS

Congestion on the road leading to the center of Anamizu
| KYODO

Firefighters inspect collapsed houses in Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture.
| KYODO

Japanese Self-Defense Force soldiers search a collapsed house in Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture.
| KYODO

An Aichi Prefectural Police rescue team member with a detection dog seaches for people possibly trapped in a collapsed building in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Wednesday.
| KYODO

Rescue workers conduct a search operation in Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture.
| KYODO

Evacuees rest at a shelter in Nanao, Ishikawa Prefecture
| AFP-JIJI

Kazuo Okawa, 75, in front of his collapsed house in Shika, Ishikawa Prefecture. “This house, where I was born, is my life. I can’t say put it in words.”
| KYODO