Nissan said it would resume operations soon, but Honda plans to keep production suspended at its motorcycle plant near Kumamoto through this week, Reuters reported.
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More than 1,000 people were injured in the quakes. Powerful earthquakes a day apart shook southwestern Japan, trapp…
The Kumamoto prison, which was built in 1972 and houses 491 inmates, is going to provide emergency shelter for nearby residents who can not return to their homes as the aftershocks continue to rattle southern Japan.
Though much of Toyota’s manufacturing is centered in central Japan’s Aichi prefecture, the company has suppliers scattered across Japan and worldwide.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says his government has accepted an offer of help from the United States.
After the government announced a donation of 10 million Japanese yen (US$92,000) to the Kumamoto Prefecture government to aid the stricken area Friday, President Ma Ying-jeou requested the donation be increased by US$500,000 on Saturday, the ministry said.
Gradually some roads were being reopened, and older men in security guard uniforms were helping to direct traffic in the drizzly weather. More than 100,000 have been left homeless.
Kumamoto Prison opened its doors to victims because, although not a part of codified disaster relief, the prison has a good stock of food and its own water and electricity systems. Tilt- rotor Osprey aircraft were flying to the disaster zone after arriving at a US Marine airbase to take part in relief efforts, officials said. Many people resorted to sleeping in cars or on cardboard outdoors.
“It’s a hassle, but it’s too scary to be alone”, he said, adding that there was not enough food at the evacuation centre, only a couple of rice balls each time.
Rescuers digging with their bare hands dragged some elderly survivors, still in their pyjamas, out of the rubble and onto makeshift stretchers made of tatami mats.
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Ecuador was the hardest hit, with a Magnitude 7.8 tremor that caused widespread infrastructure damage and more than 270 deaths. Nine people died in the first quake, and 32 in the second. Kumamoto, a city of 740,000, is on Kyushu island. Japanese media reported that an estimated 400,000 households were without running water.
