Water and gas supplies remained disrupted Tuesday in northern Osaka Prefecture, a day after a magnitude 6.1 earthquake rocked the metropolitan area, leaving five dead and more than 370 injured.
A fifth fatality, Norihiro Kusumoto, 66, was found dead at his home in Takatsuki, one of the cities severely damaged by the quake, police said.
Around 30 temblors, believed to be aftershocks of the powerful quake the previous day, jolted the Osaka area by 3 p.m. Tuesday, though none were strong.
The Japan Meteorological Agency alerted residents in the area of a risk of landslide, as heavy rainfall is predicted in western Japan and elsewhere over Wednesday.
(People line up for water at an elementary school ground)
With the continued seismic activity and heavy rainfall expected, the agency has for the first time sent its emergency task force, established just last month, to the affected areas to prevent secondary damage and support recovery efforts.
The number of evacuees stood at around 1,570 as of Tuesday afternoon, according to the Osaka prefectural government.
"I keep on waking up every time there is an aftershock," said a local resident taking shelter at an evacuation center in Takatsuki, northeast of Osaka.
Water supplies continued to be cut off in parts of the cities of Takatsuki and Minoo, prompting local authorities to dispatch water tank trucks.
Some 112,000 households in the cities of Takatsuki, Ibaraki, Settsu and Suita were without gas as of Tuesday morning. Osaka Gas Co. said supply is expected to be restored at all affected households by next Monday.
The number of people injured in the disaster totaled 379 in five prefectures in the Kinki region and Mie Prefecture, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.
A total of 514 houses were damaged by the quake in four prefectures, with Osaka and Kyoto accounting for nearly all, according to a tally by the central government.
Disaster management minister Hachiro Okonogi said he will lead a survey team to the area to assess the extent of the damage.
In Ibaraki, a team of experts started assessing risks of damaged buildings Tuesday.
Since over 270 requests for assessment have been submitted to the city government, it asked other local governments, such as Tottori Prefecture, to dispatch experts.
The major earthquake that rocked Osaka Prefecture and its vicinity at around 7:58 a.m. Monday killed 9-year-old Rina Miyake. A wall around her school's swimming pool collapsed on her as she was walking to the school.
Police have launched an investigation into the fatality, suspecting it could be a case of negligence resulting in death, according to investigative sources.
An expert dispatched by the education ministry to survey the site said there was insufficient reinforcing steel connecting the concrete-block wall and its foundation and that may have accounted for its weakness.
"If it had been a wire fence instead of a concrete wall, this would not have happened," said a 36-year-old woman who visited the site with her 10-year-old daughter, as residents placed flowers and sweets at the spot.
Education minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said he plans to instruct operators of elementary schools and junior high schools nationwide to conduct emergency safety inspections of their concrete walls.
