'Deeply anguished': PM Modi writes to Japan's Kishida after earthquake

I express my deepest condolences to the bereaved families of those who lost their lives,' wrote Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the letter

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has written to his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida, expressing grief over the lives lost in the earthquake that struck Japan this week. This letter came as Japanese rescuers searched for 222 individuals still missing, with the death toll approaching 100.
 

"I am deeply anguished and concerned to learn about the major earthquake that struck Japan on 1 January 2024. I express my deepest condolences to the bereaved families of those who lost their lives. We stand in solidarity with Japan and its people affected by the disaster," PTI reported quoting sources.

"As a special strategic and global partner, India values its relationship with Japan, and is ready to extend all possible assistance at this hour," the Prime Minister added.

 

Thousands of rescuers from all over Japan have been battling aftershocks and roads littered with gaping holes and blocked by frequent landslides in the central Ishikawa region. On Thursday afternoon, two older women were miraculously rescued from the wreckage of their homes in Wajima.

The port city of Wajima on the Noto Peninsula was one of the worst hit, with a pungent smell of soot still in the air and faint columns of smoke visible from a huge fire that destroyed hundreds of structures on the first day. Authorities said on Friday afternoon that 222 people were unaccounted for, down from an earlier count of 242, including 121 in Wajima and 82 in Suzu. The death toll was raised to 94 from 92, with 464 people injured.

Around 30,000 households were without electricity in the Ishikawa region, and 89,800 homes there and in two neighbouring regions were without water, news agency AFP reported.

The agency further said that hundreds of people were in government shelters. Japan experiences hundreds of earthquakes every year, and most cause no damage, with strict building codes that have been in place for more than four decades.

Over the last five years, earthquakes have been more powerful and frequent in the Noto region. The country is scarred by a catastrophic 9.0 magnitude underwater quake in 2011, which caused a tsunami that left around 18,500 people dead or missing.

(With agency input)