The magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck on New Year’s Day and caused extensive damage to communities on the Noto Peninsula.
A woman in her 90s was pulled alive from a collapsed house in western Japan, 124 hours after the area was hit by a powerful earthquake that killed at least 126 people.
The resident of Suzu, at the northern end of the affected Noto Peninsula, survived more than five days after the 7.6 magnitude earthquake.
Nationally broadcast news footage showed helmeted rescuers covering the view of the area with blue plastic, with the woman not visible. Her condition was unclear.
The chances of survival decrease dramatically after the first 72 hours. According to authorities, about 200 people are still missing.
Among the 126 dead was a five-year-old boy who was recovering from injuries he suffered when boiling water was spilled during the earthquake. His condition suddenly worsened and he died on Friday, according to authorities in Ishikawa prefecture, which includes the Noto Peninsula.
Most of the deaths recorded so far have occurred in the city of Wajima, which is also located in the north of the peninsula and was the scene of a fierce fire, and in Suzu. More than 500 people have been injured, at least 27 of them seriously.
In Suzu, where dozens of houses lie in ruins, a dog barked as an AFP crew filmed the cleanup operation, a sign of a grim discovery.
“Training for disaster rescue dogs begins with something similar to a game of hide-and-seek,” dog trainer Masayo Kikuchi told the news agency.
“Lastly, they are trained to bark when they see a person under the rubble.”
Homes containing discovered deaths are being marked and left alone until a coroner can come with family members to identify the body.
‘Very hard’
Continued aftershocks have threatened to bury more homes and block roads that are crucial for aid shipments. With rain and snow forecast for Sunday, officials warned that roads already warped and cracked by the earthquake could collapse completely.
For Shiro Kokuda, 76, the house in Wajima where he grew up was saved, but a nearby temple burned down and he was still searching for his friends at evacuation centers.
“It’s been really hard,” he said.
Along the coast of Japan, electricity was gradually being restored, but water supplies remained in short supply.
Thousands of troops transported water, food and medicine by air and by truck to the more than 30,000 people who had been evacuated to auditoriums, schools and other facilities.
The national Yomiuri newspaper reported that its aerial survey had located more than 100 landslides in the area and some were blocking main roads.
Some communities, such as the coastal community of Shiromaru, which was also hit by a tsunami, were still waiting for help.
The wave, said to be several meters high, left behind a tangle of wood, metal and plastic debris.
“The tsunami came from Shiromaru Creek across the river and then up the street,” said Toshio Sakashita, one of its roughly 100 residents.
“Here we have not received any public support. Look, the main street is still blocked because of the rubble, which has not been touched,” the 69-year-old told AFP.
“We can’t live in our house anymore,” said Yukio Teraoka, 82, as he and his wife cleaned thick, soggy sand from their destroyed home.
