Cover News Reporter Yang Feng
"This is the largest earthquake in Japan since the March 11 earthquake, and it is very locally destructive and lasts for a long time. Wang Yuchen, a doctor from the Institute of Seismology of the University of Tokyo and a researcher at the National Institute of Marine Exploration of Japan, told the cover news reporter.
Images of the disaster area taken by volunteers from the Dragon Group.
"The house shook, we thought it was the sightseeing train arrived in advance, the mobile phone sounded the alarm, everyone ran outside the house in a panic, and saw that there was a rockslide not far away. Recalling the earthquake, Yang Li, a Chinese tourist who experienced the earthquake more than 70 kilometers away from the epicenter, still feels afraid.
"There are many cracks on the road into the disaster area, and it is easy for vehicles to get stuck or puncture tires. Liu Yong, president of the Long Zairi Chinese Aid Association, who led the Chinese rescue team and sent supplies into the disaster area, said that the Chinese tourists trapped in the disaster area are being evacuated from the disaster area one after another with the support of local rescue forces and Chinese organizations.
Images of the disaster area taken by volunteers from the Dragon Group.
The year 2024 in Japan begins with a major earthquake
On the afternoon of January 1, 2024 local time, several earthquakes occurred on the west coast of Japan, and the strongest one reached a magnitude of 7.6. The earthquake damaged roads and houses on the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture, and fires broke out in many places.
The Japan Meteorological Agency named the earthquake the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake. According to Japan's Kyodo News Agency, by January 5, after more than 72 hours of rescue, the earthquake had killed 95 people in Ishikawa Prefecture and more than 200 people were missing.
Ishikawa Prefecture's Kanazawa City, Wajima City, Takaoka City and other places are home to many famous Japanese sightseeing spots, and many foreign tourists visit the area for New Year's Eve. According to Xinhua News Agency reporters, the Chinese Consulate General in Nagoya and the Consulate General in Niigata learned that as of noon on January 2, there were more than 4,000 Chinese nationals in Ishikawa Prefecture, and there were no reports of casualties among Chinese nationals.
Images of the disaster area taken by volunteers from the Dragon Group.
On January 1, Yang Li, who came to Japan for New Year's Eve with her friends, came to the rainy coast of Takaoka City on the east side of the Noto Peninsula. At 16:10 local time, Yang Li, who was resting at a drink shop with a terrace and was about to wait to take pictures of the unique small train, Mt. Fuji and the beach in the same frame, suddenly felt a strong tremor. "At first, we thought it was the train that arrived early, and everyone was stunned until the phone alarm sounded, and the pop-up window said in Japanese kanji that a major earthquake had occurred. We fled with the customers to the third floor. Behind the drink shop is a hill, and Yang Li has seen a landslide on the hill with her own eyes.
After the 7.6 magnitude earthquake, the Japan Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami warning for various parts of the coast of the Sea of Japan. Yang Li's area has received a red warning for a large tsunami, which is expected to be 3 to 5 meters high. "When we talked to customers and staff, we learned that they were running upstairs to prevent a tsunami. ”
"The aftershocks continued, and within dozens of minutes, everyone's mobile phones were constantly sounding alarms. Yang Li experienced the earthquake for the first time, and in fear, she did not dare to contact her parents directly, and told her friends about her parents' phone numbers.
After the earthquake subsided, Yang Li and her friends evacuated the beach by car after being guided by locals and tourists, "There were many cracks on the ground along the way, and public transportation was paralyzed." Due to the continuous aftershocks and disaster damage, Yang Li changed her travel plans to Kanazawa City, and traveled to Toyama Airport, which was the closest she could reach, and returned to China early on the evening of January 2.
"From the time the earthquake occurred to the time we returned home, we basically did not dare to rest, and the sound of aftershock sirens kept sounding. Because of fear, I felt that the ground was shaking all the time. Yang Li said that her flight back to China was almost full of Chinese passengers who returned home early due to the earthquake.
On the way to evacuate, Yang Li saw the devastation caused by the earthquake. Photo courtesy of the interviewee
The Chinese in Japan organized a rescue team to support the disaster area and picked up 4 trapped compatriots
After paying attention to the rising death toll in TV news reports and the messages asking for help from compatriots who were stranded due to traffic blockages. During the new crown epidemic, the Dragon Chinese Aid Association (hereinafter referred to as the "Dragon Group"), a mutual aid organization for Chinese in Japan, was established, and on the morning of January 2, it began to organize teams to support.
Liu Yong, president of the Dragon Group, told the cover news reporter, "The original intention of the Dragon Group is to help people in need and promote people-to-people friendship between China and Japan. Subsequently, through donations from the Chinese community in Japan and Chinese enterprises in Japan, daily life and emergency supplies such as cotton clothes, blankets, warm patches, diapers, and milk powder were collected in Tokyo.
At 9 p.m. local time on January 2, 20 volunteers organized by the Dragon Group, carrying nearly 1.5 million yen (about 73,000 yuan) of love materials, took 7 cars, set off from Tokyo, and arrived at the periphery of the disaster area on the morning of January 3 after nearly 9 hours and 500 kilometers of trekking.
Images of the disaster area taken by volunteers from the Dragon Group.
"For the last 100 kilometers, we drove for more than five hours to get in, and along the way, there were many aftershocks of magnitude 4 or higher. Liu Yong said that because of the damage caused by the earthquake, there were a lot of landslides, mudslides and ground cracks with a large drop on the road near the epicenter. "When we arrived in Wajima City, Ishikawa Prefecture, where the disaster was severe, the mobile phone signal was almost gone, and as soon as there was a signal, it was an earthquake siren. Our convoy relied on walkie-talkies to communicate with each other, and we almost got separated many times. ”
"The evacuation center that had been contacted to receive the supplies was impassable because the road was blocked by boulders," said the rescue team on the afternoon of January 3, and the rescue team had to hand over the supplies to the Wajima City Cultural Center, another evacuation center that could be reached. "There are hundreds of people living here, especially the elderly and children. At the epicenter, many houses collapsed, and some vehicles were smashed by falling rocks and fell into the ground. Liu Yong said.
In the process of going to the disaster area, the volunteers of the Long Group also continued to get in touch with the Chinese compatriots in the disaster area. "Three waves of compatriots sent us messages asking for help, and two of them were evacuated first with the assistance of local rescue workers and Chinese organizations. On January 3, Xiao Ka and four other Chinese students who were trapped on Wajima were brought out by us. Liu Yong said. During the evacuation, one of the rescue team's vehicles had a flat tire due to bad road conditions and was forced to temporarily leave the team for maintenance.
After Xiaoka and his classmates were hit by an earthquake on the beach in the city of Wheelisland, their car was stuck on the asphalt road and the chassis was broken, and the mobile phone had no signal, and they fell into despair for a while. Thankfully, they were taken to a shelter where they could be warmed by local fishermen passing by, and they were very touched by the limited amount of food they had given them. After leaving the disaster area, Xiaoka wrote, "I will always remember a place called Gwangpo Port, where there are a group of simple and kind villagers. Although they had never seen a foreigner in their lives, they had to prepare dry food for us when they were hospitable and scarce. Hopefully, disasters will do them well. ”
The cover news reporter learned that at the same time as the Dragon Group operation, the Chinese Consulate in Nagoya, the Nagoya China Aid Center, the Ishikawa Prefecture Overseas Chinese Association and other organizations are also working hard to help the Chinese in the disaster area get out of trouble.
Images of the disaster area taken by volunteers from the Dragon Group.
The largest earthquake in Japan since the March 11 earthquake
Wang Yuchen, Ph.D. from the Institute of Seismology at the University of Tokyo and a researcher at the National Institute of Oceanography and Development of Japan, continued to provide earthquake information and judgment to the front team during the rescue team to the disaster area. "I kept an eye on the news of the aftershocks, because many of the roads on the Noto Peninsula are right by the sea, and if there is a big risk of a tsunami, volunteers will have to abandon their cars and flee to higher ground. ”
Wang Yuchen believes that according to the data available so far, the earthquake in Shiga Town, Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture, is similar in intensity to the 2011 March 11 earthquake, but the damage caused by the tsunami is much smaller than that of the March 11 earthquake.
Wang Yuchen said that for Japan, the risk of tsunami caused by earthquakes along the coast of the Sea of Japan is slightly lower than that of tsunamis caused by earthquakes on the Pacific side. The Japan Meteorological Agency previously issued a tsunami warning of about 5 meters in the Noto area, but the actual tsunami observed was about 1.5 meters. "I think it's because the magnitude of this earthquake is not as big as the March 11 earthquake, and because the earthquake fault rupture is not in the deep sea, so the tsunami height is not that large. Thanks to the maturity of tsunami warning technology, people were able to evacuate and evacuate in time, minimizing the impact of the tsunami. Wang Yuchen said.
"At present, the earthquake disaster is mainly caused by the collapse of houses and fires caused by the earthquake itself. Wang Yuchen believes that the earthquake occurred in winter, which added urgency to the disaster relief work, and the geographical location of the Deng Peninsula is relatively remote, the local roads are narrow, and the earthquake caused the road to break, how to open up the traffic as soon as possible, and send cold and warm clothes, food and beverages and other scarce materials into the disaster area, which is the main problem of disaster relief. The information sent back by the dragon rescue team from the front also confirmed the local transportation difficulties and rescue difficulties. Wang Yuchen said.
Images of the disaster area taken by volunteers from the Dragon Group.
According to Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, affected by the earthquake, as of 7 o'clock local time on January 5, about 90,000 households in Ishikawa, Toyama and Niigata prefectures have been without water. In addition, 11 medical institutions and 108 nursing homes in Ishikawa Prefecture are without water. According to Japan's Hokuriku Electric Power Company, affected by the earthquake that occurred on January 1, as of 10 o'clock local time on January 5, 27,000 households in Ishikawa County are still without power.
The mayor of Suzu City, the hardest-hit area of the Noto region of Japan, said that 90 percent of the 6,000 households in the area were completely destroyed or nearly completely destroyed in the earthquake. By the morning of January 5, the daily food aid received by the local area could only meet the needs of the city's population for one day, and it was hoped that the outside world would provide more food as soon as possible, and revealed that the current gas station in the city has been operating at the limit, and it is likely that there will be a shortage of gasoline and diesel supply. At an emergency disaster relief meeting held on January 2, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the government would mobilize land, sea and air forces to deliver relief personnel and supplies to the disaster area.
By January 4, the volunteers of the Dragon Group Rescue Team were in the Chinese community in Japan and raised the second batch of 590 boxes of 4,130 blankets and delivered them to the disaster area. By January 5, all the volunteers of the Dragon Group Rescue Team had withdrawn from the disaster area to a safe area. "The mountains and rivers are different, the wind and the moon are the same, and we hope to provide some warmth to the residents in the earthquake area who are in a situation where they are without food and clothing, and we are unable to provide warmth and cold. The Dragon Chinese Aid Association in Japan said.
According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the Hokliku region of Japan, including the Noto area of Ishikawa Prefecture, will experience rainy weather in the near future, and snowfall and landslides may occur in some areas. Previously, the Japan Meteorological Agency also reminded people in the earthquake area to be aware of the possibility of another earthquake with a seismic intensity of about 7 in the next week after the strong earthquake, which will bring greater challenges to disaster relief.
(At the request of the interviewee, Yang Li and Xiaoka are pseudonyms.) ）
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