50 died in earthquake, 5 died in Japanese aircraft collision

Tuesday at Tokyo’s Haneda airport, a Japan Coast Guard aircraft collided violently with a Japan Airlines passenger plane, killing five passengers on board.

This occurred on Tuesday as Japanese rescuers fought to locate survivors of an earthquake that struck on New Year’s Day and resulted in extensive damage, according to AFP. The earthquake claimed at least 50 lives.

Tetsuo Saito, the minister of transportation of Japan, informed media that all 379 passengers and crew members on board the passenger plane that caught fire had safely been evacuated.

However, Saito added that five of the six crew members on the smaller plane, which was headed for central Japan following Monday’s massive earthquake, perished.

“We’re not at the stage to explain the cause” of the disaster, stated the injured but escaped captain.

Before the fuselage was sprayed by dozens of fire engines with blue lights flashing, all 367 passengers and 12 crew members were quickly evacuated from the aircraft.

Nevertheless, the fire quickly spread throughout the entire aircraft since they were unable to put out the flames coming from windows close to the wings.

The aircraft, which was apparently an Airbus 350, had come from the New Chitose Airport, which serves Sapporo on the island of Hokkaido in the north. There were eight kids aboard the plane.

Reporters at the airport were told by an adult male passenger, “This could be really bad,” as smoke started to fill the aircraft.

“An announcement stated that the middle and rear doors could not be opened. Thus, everyone got off at the front, he said.

When the fire got closer after landing, a female passenger was interviewed by AFP and stated that it was dark on board.

In remarks shown on broadcaster NHK, she claimed, “It was getting hot inside the plane, and I thought, to be honest, I would not survive.”

A quake causes mayhem

The main island of Honshu’s Ishikawa prefecture was rocked by a 7.5 magnitude earthquake that caused road destruction, a massive fire and tsunami waves that rose more than a metre high.

A number of structures were destroyed in the Noto Peninsula, including crushed residences, sunk or washed ashore fishing boats, and landslide-damaged highways.

Akiko stood outside her parents’ tilting home in the severely damaged city of Wajima and stated, “I’m amazed the house is this broken and everyone in my family managed to come out of it unscathed.”

After what she described as the long and intense earthquake on Monday, she told AFP that the way 2024 began “will be etched into my memory forever.”

Tsugumasa Mihara, 73, remarked, “It was such a powerful jolt,” as he stood in queue with hundreds of others in the nearby town of Shika for water.

As rescuers searched through the debris, local officials were cited by the Japanese news agency Kyodo, which put the death toll at 57.

Following a meeting on disaster response, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida declared, “Very extensive damage has been confirmed, including numerous casualties, building collapses, and fires.”

“In order to find and save disaster victims, we must act quickly.”

The horrific scope of the fire that tore through Wajima’s historic market district, resulting in the collapse of a seven-story commercial building, was seen in aerial TV footage. Rescue attempts to put out the fire were hampered by earthquake damage.

As reported by Kyodo, the majority of the houses in Suzu, a seaside city, collapsed.

Approximately ninety percent of the houses have been damaged or practically destroyed, according to reports of Suzu Mayor Masuhiro Izumiya speaking at a prefectural government meeting. “The situation is devastating.”

The local energy company said that about 33,000 houses in the area were without power during the overnight lows that reached below freezing. Water did not run in many cities.

The earthquake’s magnitude, according to the US Geological Survey, was 7.5. With a measurement of 7.6, the meteorological agency in Japan reported that it was one of almost 210 earthquakes that would jolt the area until Tuesday night.

Early on Tuesday, there were multiple powerful shocks, one of which measured 5.6 and forced national broadcaster NHK to switch to a special programming.

The presenter asked the audience to “please take deep breaths” and reminded them to check their kitchens for flames.

According to an AFP story, hundreds of earthquakes occur in Japan each year, the most of which do not result in any damage.

According to a Japanese government data from the previous year, the Noto Peninsula region has seen a steady increase in earthquake activity since 2018.

A powerful undersea 9.0 magnitude earthquake that struck northeastern Japan in 2011 and caused a tsunami that left almost 18,500 people dead or missing haunts the nation.