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Japan deadly quake: Bad weather hampers rescue efforts

16 April 2016 20:11 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Heavy rains were expected through Sunday after Japan's Kyushu region was struck by twin earthquakes, hampering the search for survivors and forcing nervous residents into crowded evacuation centers, APA reports quoting CNN.

At least 32 people have died in the latest Kyushu earthquake, according to Kumamoto Prefecture's disaster management office. The magnitude-7.0 quake hit early Saturday.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe described the search for survivors in piles of rubble as a "race against the clock," noting that bad weather had conspired with the devastating quake, its aftershocks and the threat of landslides to make a dire situation worse.

At least 23 people are buried inside buildings, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said.

"We're racing against the clock," Abe said. "(We) will provide more personnel if necessary."

Residents were already edgy after a 6.2. quake rattled the area two days earlier, killing nine people. The combined death toll has reached 41. Both earthquakes left 968 people injured, according to the disaster management office.

"This is worst thing that could happened to us," said Shigeru Morita, an official in the town of Mashiki, Kumamoto Prefecture.

The latest and most powerful earthquake struck near the city of Kumamoto, toppling buildings and bridges, shredding sections of landmarks into piles of debris, and sending frightened residents fleeing from their homes and into the night.

Thursday's earthquake hit near Ueki city, just 15 kilometers away.

"The first earthquake was very big," said Osamu Yoshizumi, the senior chief of international affairs in Kumamoto. "We thought it was the big one."

That initial earthquake was a "foreshock" to the latest one, according to USGS.

A bigger tremor would come overnight Friday.

"When the second earthquake came everything shook and I thought I might die," said Taiki Hishida, 38, who evacuated with his wife and two young children to a crowded shelter in Mashiki.

Samuel Borer, a U.S. citizen living in Kumamoto, said the latest quake struck about 1:30 in the morning.

"It was just pitch black in the middle of the night and everything just started to go wild," he said.

Television images and photos from the scene showed empty shelves at supermarkets and stores, leaving many evacuees to line up for food and water at shelters.

"There wasn't actually enough food for everyone, which was the only problem," said Borer, speaking at a elementary school converted into a shelter. "Most of the food went to the elderly and children first."