[DIPECHO Network] Crew Search for Missing in 7.2 Quakes, Japan

[Ashutosh Mohanty]

*Crew Search for Missing in 7.2 Quakes, Japan *



KURIHARA, Japan - Rescue teams using shovels and buckets tried Sunday to dig
their way to seven people believed trapped in a landslide at a hot springs
resort after a deadly earthquake pounded the mountains of northern Japan,
killing at least six and injuring more than 200.

The fire department squads worked as military helicopters buzzed overhead
and frequent aftershocks posed the threat of the ground collapsing under
their feet. Saturday's 7.2-magnitude quake triggered several major
landslides, blocking roads and stranding bathers at the hot spring resort,
which is located in a heavily forested mountainous area outside the small
city of Kurihara. Crews searching for the missing had to hike mountain
trails and dig their way to the worst-hit areas." It was the worst quake I
have ever felt," said Rinji Sato, whose grocery store in this town near the
epicenter was a mess of shattered bottles and food thrown from shelves. "We
were just lucky this didn't hit a big city."Search teams have already
recovered the bodies of six dead, but believe at least nine more may be
missing. News reports put the number of injured at about 260.Sato described
the temblor as a sharp vertical jolt followed by a powerful sideways
swaying. "It was impossible to stay on your feet," he said.

Tohoku University geologist Motoki Kazama said the area was especially
vulnerable to landslides because it is of volcanic origin, and contains a
large amount of loose ash. Some of the landslides continued off of the sides
of the hills for several hundred feet, he said." With a quake of this
magnitude, it isn't surprising that there was this amount of land movement,"
he said. The government responded quickly, mobilizing troops, police and
fire department rescue teams to find and care for the injured and to recover
the dead." Our most important task is to save as many lives as possible, and
we are doing the best we can," Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said.

Access, however, was a major obstacle. The quake — followed by more than 200
aftershocks — buckled roads, including one highway that was severed when a
stretch of land collapsed, turning it into a sudden drop-off. Train service,
water and electricity, which had been cut, was restored to most areas on
Sunday. About 2,800 homes in Kurihara city were still without power,
however. More than 200 people — many of them near the hot springs — remained
stranded Sunday, and were being slowly flown out by helicopter.

"We're getting growing reports of damage, but we can't even get out there to
assess the situation with roads closed off because of landslides," said city
official Norio Sato in Kurihara, one of the worst-hit cities in northern
Miyagi prefecture (state).At a nuclear power plant in Fukushima, about 60
miles away, the jolt splashed a small amount of radioactive water from two
pools storing spent fuel. Trade and Industry Ministry official Yoshinori
Moriyama said there was no leakage outside the plant. The Defense Ministry
dispatched a dozen helicopters and patrol aircraft to the region to conduct
flyovers and assess the extent of damage. The government also sent a CH-47
helicopter carrying Disaster Minister Shinya Izumi to the region.

The 8:43 a.m. quake was centered about 5 miles underground in the prefecture
(state) of Iwate. It was felt as far away as Tokyo, 250 miles to the
southwest. "It shook so violently that I couldn't stand still. I had to lean
on the wall," said Masanori Oikawa, a city official in nearby Oshu who was
at home when the quake struck. "When I rushed to the office, cabinets had
been thrown onto the floor and things on the desks were scattered all over
the place."

The dead included three construction workers who were on a hillside when the
morning quake struck. The ground gave way beneath them, and they tumbled
about 300 feet to their deaths in the avalanche. Twelve others at the site
managed to dig themselves out of the landslide. Another victim ran out of a
building in fear and was hit by a passing truck.

Japan is one of the most earthquake-prone areas in the world. The most
recent major quake in Japan killed more than 6,400 people in the city of
Kobe in January 1995.

By ERIC TALMADGE, Associated Press Writer


-- 
Ashutosh Mohanty, MSc, LLB, PhD contd.
DRM Specialist/Researcher
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