90-year-old woman found alive under rubble five days after Japan earthquake

A nonagenarian who remained trapped under the rubble for five days after the earthquake that shook Japan On New Year’s Day she was rescued alive, against all odds, although the expected fall of snow this Sunday is expected to complicate the relief efforts.

At least 128 people died in the 7.5 magnitude earthquake that hit the city on January 1. Noto peninsulaon the edge of the sea Japan, on the western coast of the archipelago, and 195 remain missing, according to a new balance reported on Sunday. 560 injuries are also reported.

LOOK HERE: “We can no longer live in our house,” lament those affected by the earthquake in Japan

The earthquake and its hundreds of aftershocks demolished homes, started fires and triggered a tsunami with waves more than a meter high.

The hope of finding survivors usually fades three days after a earthquakebut the rescued elderly woman spent five days under the rubble of a collapsed house in the city of Suzubefore being saved on Saturday.

The woman was taken to the hospital for treatment and responded clearly to the first responders’ questions, according to public broadcaster NHK.

“Endurance!“, the rescuers shouted at him in the rain, according to a video filmed by the police and broadcast by local media. “everything is going to be fine“, “stay positive“, they asked him.

But many were less fortunate. In the city of Anamizuon the same peninsula, a 52-year-old man who lost his 21-year-old son and his in-laws was waiting for news from other members of his family.

“I wish they were alive, I don’t want to be alone”he told NHK.

helicopter missions

Many communities on the peninsula I notice They have been isolated by damaged roads and landslides that block the passage of aid vehicles.

MORE INFORMATION: The pilots of the Japan Airlines flight were unaware of the fire until the crew informed them

The bad weather and snowfall expected for this Sunday threatens to make the mission of the thousands of police, troops and other rescue workers deployed difficult.

It could also worsen the conditions of more than 30,000 people living in 366 government shelters due to the difficulty of delivering relief materials to those areas suffering from water and electricity outages.

“The first priority has been to rescue people under the rubble and reach isolated communities”declared the prime minister Fumio Kishida in an interview with NHK on Sunday.

The military has sent small groups of troops on foot to each of the isolated communities, he said.

The government has alsodeployed several police and fire helicopters (…) to access them from the sky“Kishida added.

In the town of Anamizu, rescuers in orange or blue raincoats were seen carrying the body of a landslide victim, covered with a blue tarp.

Furthermore, amid the widespread destruction in the city of Wajimathe traditional red door of a shrine still stood, but the view through it was now a mess of splintered wood and toppled beams.

ALSO SEE: Why do so many earthquakes occur in Japan and how did it become the best prepared in the world?

Japan experiences hundreds of earthquakes each year and most cause no damage, due to strict building codes in place for more than four decades.

But many of the buildings in the country are old, especially in communities in rural areas like Noto.

Japan still retains the memory of the devastating 2011 earthquake that triggered a tsunamileft some 18,500 dead or missing and caused a nuclear catastrophe at the power plant. Fukushima.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Agence France-Presse was founded in 1835, making it the oldest news agency in the world. It distributes content for more than 5,000 clients in six languages, thanks to a network of 1,700 journalists and 2,400 collaborators in 151 countries.