Japan on Friday ramped up its search and rescue operations in quake-ravaged Ishikawa Prefecture, deploying additional police and Self-Defense Forces members, as the death toll rose to 94 with over 200 people unaccounted for.
The search for survivors faced ongoing challenges due to extensive structural damage, landslides and aftershocks following the magnitude-7.6 temblor that struck the Noto Peninsula on New Year's Day.
The National Police Agency has boosted its disaster response team in Ishikawa Prefecture to around 1,100 from 700, while the government has more than doubled the number of SDF troops deployed to disaster-affected areas to around 5,000.
In the hard-hit coastal city of Wajima, which also saw a major fire breakout after the quake, the mayor disclosed around 100 reported cases of people believed trapped under collapsed buildings.
Road damage and congestion are also hindering relief operations, with over 30,000 evacuees remaining at some 370 shelters in Ishikawa Prefecture.
Some 160 people are isolated due to severed roads, while about 27,000 homes still have no power and some 68,000 remain without running water in the prefecture.
With the evacuation period likely to be prolonged, adequate supplies are yet to reach areas in need and concerns over hygiene management are growing.
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