By Tim Kelly, Tom Bateman and Satoshi Sugiyama
YATSUSHIRO, Japan, July 30 (Reuters) – The 7.1-magnitude earthquake that struck southern Japan toppled houses and split open streets in the small city of Yatsushiro, but town official Akio Matsushita is most worried about the invisible threats from the lack of water and power amid the punishing summer heat.
Many of the port city’s roughly 58,000 households were still without running water or power on Thursday, two days since the quake hit Kumamoto prefecture killing at least 17 people. Matsushita, who is helping lead relief efforts, said he had no idea whether it would take days, weeks or months to repair the badly damaged water mains.
“Because of the summer heat, the lack of water is especially difficult,” he said in the city hall.
With the building’s toilets out of order, officials erected emergency toilets over sewer manholes outside, in temperatures of around 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) and stifling humidity.
“It will require painstaking work, and there is currently no timetable,” he added.
DEATH TOLL CLIMBS
The Kumamoto prefectural government said the death toll from the earthquake was now at 17 — the majority of them at Nippon Paper Industries’ paper mill, which suffered major structural damage, and at Aeon’s shopping mall, where a possible gas explosion occurred. Another six people are in cardiopulmonary arrest, it said.
Including those still being investigated for a possible link to the quake, the death toll stands at 30, the government said.
One of the victims was a newlywed Vietnamese factory worker, survived by his wife and seven-month-old baby, according to Vietnamese news site Kenh14.
In an interview with the news site, Vu Thi Thuy recalled her last conversation with her husband the night before the tremor struck.
“Every time we video-called, my son never wanted to look at his dad but that night, for some reason, he stayed glued to the screen, wanting to be with his dad,” she said. “It was after 11 p.m. when I finally told him, ‘Let’s hang up so dad can get some sleep. He has to work tomorrow.’ I never imagined that would be our last call.”
AUTHORITIES WARN OF HEATSTROKE
While rescue and relief efforts continue, a Kumamoto official warned of heatstroke risk in temperatures that were forecast to reach close to 40 C on the weekend. The Self-Defense Forces (SDF) —Japan’s military — is installing about 300 air-conditioning units in evacuation centres and other key sites around Kumamoto.
Immediately after the quake, SDF trucks towed water tanks to community centres and schools across Yatsushiro city, returning to city hall to refill from emergency tanks beneath the building. Residents were limited to 5 litres each.
Among them was Masahiro Miyamoto, who had been helping clear rubble from a temple gate that had toppled.
He returned home after the late-afternoon quake to find his house still standing beside the collapsed remains of his neighbour’s home. But with no running water, he was forced to rely on military water bowsers.
The few shops still open were packed with people searching for supplies, he said, while cars formed long queues at petrol stations.
“It would be better if disasters did not happen, but this is Japan, so perhaps it is something we simply have to live with,” Miyamoto said.
PRODUCTION HALT HITS MAJOR MANUFACTURERS
Japan sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, an arc of volcanoes and ocean trenches that account for about one-fifth of the world’s large earthquakes. Strict building standards and regular disaster drills reduce casualties, but powerful tremors can still cripple the regions in which they occur.
Kumamoto and other parts of the Kyushu region have increasingly become key production sites for automobiles and semiconductors, raising concerns over a possible hit to the economy.
Tuesday’s quake has forced manufacturers such as Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Aisin and Sony to halt some production and prompted Taiwan’s TSMC to evacuate workers and briefly suspend operations to assess any damage.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said it was difficult to estimate the impact on the economy now.
“Our immediate priority is to restore and repair infrastructure, including ports and other key facilities. We will also closely monitor the impact on economic activity, particularly supply chains in sectors such as semiconductors and automobiles,” he told reporters.
Miyamoto and many residents of Yatsushiro and nearby Kumamoto city have endured major earthquakes before. Two powerful quakes in April 2016 killed more than 260 people and destroyed thousands of homes.
But Tuesday’s shaking, which toppled shelves and hurled computers to the floor, was worse in Yatsushiro than anything Matsushita experienced a decade ago.
“I had never experienced the world moving like that before. It felt as though my body became weightless and was thrown through the air,” Miyamoto said.
(Reporting by Tim Kelly and Tom Bateman in Yatsushiro, Satoshi Sugiyama, Mariko Katsumura, Kantaro Komiya in Tokyo; Writing by Chang-Ran Kim, Editing by Stephen Coates)
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