Quake-Affected People in Kumamoto Voice Fears

Kumamoto, July 30 (Jiji Press)–Residents in Kumamoto Prefecture voiced concerns Thursday, two days after a powerful earthquake struck the southwestern Japan prefecture, with many being evacuated and the full extent of damage still unknown. In the city of Uki, which logged the highest level of 7 on Japan’s seismic intensity scale, about 960 people are staying at a local disaster prevention center. A self-employed man, 58, said his wife was taken to a hospital after suffering heatstroke. “If we know how many more days the water and power outages will last, we would be able to decide whether to evacuate to another place,” he said. In the town of Hikawa, where the quake also measured 7, several houses collapsed and roads have been raised in many places. A man, 68, was searching through the rubble of his 70-year-old house, which was destroyed in the quake, for valuables and daily necessities. Although part of the house did not collapse, the man is now staying at his 67-year-old wife’s family home in the city of Kumamoto, the capital of the prefecture. “Last night, there was an aftershock measuring up to lower 5, so it’s still dangerous, and I don’t have energy to clean up,” he said. About 700 people have been evacuated to a public gymnasium in the city of Yatsushiro, which recorded upper 6, the second-highest level on the seismic intensity scale. “I don’t feel alive,” a 57-year-old woman who evacuated with five family members said, noting that she bolted awake Wednesday night due to the lower 5 quake. The woman said that her home remains without running water and electricity. “I hope they will be restored soon. That’s all I wish for now.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]