Tokyo, Jan 7 (Agency) The death toll from a powerful earthquake and a series of aftershocks that hit Japan’s Ishikawa Prefecture on New Year’s Day has risen to 128, Japanese media reported on Sunday. At least 560 people were injured and 222 others remain unaccounted for, the Kyodo news agency reported. On Monday afternoon, a powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake, followed by a series of aftershocks, struck near the city of Suzu on the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture.
The tremors led to buildings collapsing and left over 23,900 households without power, although no nuclear power plant failures were registered. The earthquake on January 1, 2024, became the most powerful for the Noto Peninsula region since records began in 1885. The disaster also partly or completely destroyed over 1,370 houses and forced more than 30,700 people in Ishikawa to evacuate to government shelters. Japan’s Self-Defense Forces deployed 5,400 rescue workers to assist with disaster relief efforts.