Japan Earthquake Death Toll Rises to 7
Monday, July 16, 2007 Posted: 10:26 PM JST
The death toll for today's earthquake has risen to 7, 1 person has been reported missing. More than 800 people have been treated at hospitals. More than 300 houses have collapsed and over 1,700 have sustained damage. It is already past 9:00 PM in Japan and people are readying themselves for a long and scary night. Many of them at hastily arranged evacuation centers.
The exact number of people who have evacuated is not yet known, but Kashiwazaki City has ordered 10,000 meals. Many people also plan to spend the night outside. However, heavy rain of 2-3 centimeters per hour has been forecast for the area for tonight and tomorrow. This may cause landslides now that the earth has been become unsettled by today's repeated quakes, many of them measuring 4 to 6 on the Richter Scale. Over 70 aftershocks were strong enough to be felt.
One Shinkansen (bullet train) connection has still not been restored, while another regular train connection can't be restored because a landslide has swept away the tracks and partly covered a station. At least one expressway has been closed due to heavy damage and countless roads are unusable. The damaged roads and rail connections is complicating the transportation of water. At least 50 water trucks have not been able to reach their designated areas yet. The Japanese naval forces today sent out supplies by sea from Kyoto's Maizuru. These supplies are expected to reach the affected areas by late tomorrow afternoon.
Survivors, still traumatized by the 2004 quake, repeatedly tell reporters that this quake was much worse than the 2004 one.
Keywords: national_news 2007 Niigata-Chuetsu Earthquake
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