Japan earthquake: Death toll rises after devastating tremor

Japan earthquake: Death toll rises after devastating tremor

By Theresa Waldrop, Yoko Wakatsuki and Chie Kobayashi, CNN

Updated 0115 GMT (0915 HKT) September 10, 2018

Tokyo (CNN)The death toll in the magnitude 6.7 earthquake that struck Japan on Thursday has risen to 39, the country's Fire and Disaster Management Agency said.
Two people remain missing, and at least 641 people were injured, the agency said Sunday. Evacuation centers are still holding 2,544 people.
The quake is the latest in a string of natural disasters that have hit Japan recently, including deadly floods, typhoons, earthquakes, landslides and heatwaves.

Photo taken Sept. 6, 2018, from a Kyodo News airplane shows the site of a landslide in Atsuma, Hokkaido, northern Japan, triggered by an earthquake with preliminary magnitude of 6.7.
The number of confirmed dead and injured in the quake on the northern island of Hokkaido has risen steadily from the nine reported Friday.


Police search for missing persons around a house destroyed by a landslide after a powerful earthquake in Atsuma, Hokkaido, northern Japan.
Lasting almost a minute, powerful tremors jolted people from their beds early Thursday, collapsing roads and causing landslides that buried homes and other buildings.


In this aerial image, houses are buried by multiple landslides after a powerful earthquake jolt on September 6, 2018 in Atsuma, Hokkaido, Japan.
Near the epicenter, landslides wiped out houses in the tiny town of Atsuma, home to 40 residents.

Almost 3 million households lost power initially, the Hokkaido Electric Power Company said. Almost half had power restored Friday.


A rescue operation is conducted at a house destroyed by a landslide after a powerful earthquake on September 6, 2018 in Atsuma, Hokkaido, Japan.
Photos from Sapporo, Hokkaido's main city on the western part of the island, showed huge cracks in the street and buried houses.


This picture shows an aerial view of houses damaged by a landslide in Atsuma, Hokkaido, on September 6, 2018, after an earthquake hit the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.
As many as 40,000 people, including 22,000 troops from the country's Self Defense Forces, have been involved in the rescue efforts.

Typhoon Jebi lashes Japan 01:12
Thursday's earthquake comes as much of Japan is still dealing with the effects of Typhoon Jebi, the strongest such storm to hit the Japanese mainland in 25 years.
High winds smashed a tanker into a bridge, forcing one of the country's largest airports to close and leaving at least 10 people dead.

On Japan's main island of Honshu, nine cities and towns issued compulsory evacuation orders. A further 53 issued non-compulsory evacuation orders.
Before it made landfall, the storm had sustained winds of 140 kilometers per hour (87 mph) and gusts of 165 kilometers per hour (102 mph), the equivalent of a Category 1 Atlantic hurricane.
CNN's Phil Gast and Euan McKirdy contributed to this report.