Students of Tokai University are briefed before boarding a helicopter for evacuation in Minamiaso, Kumamoto prefecture, Japan, Saturday, April 16, 2016.
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The Latest on the Quake in Ecuador.
At least 100,000 people are still thought to be living in emergency accommodation, some living in their cars enduring cold temperatures.
Many survivors have been afraid to return to their damaged homes as aftershocks continue to strike the region. An even stronger one the next night dealt what might have been the final blow – if not to the house, then to the Tanaka family’s peace of mind.
Thousands of rescue workers fanned out in often mountainous terrain to search for the missing.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, arriving at his office, told reporters the government was making every effort to determine the extent of the damage, carry out rescue and recovery, and to get accurate information to citizens. A few stretchers were on hand in case anyone was found alive.
The Kumamoto region is known as an important manufacturing hub. Nine people died in the first natural disaster, and 33 in the second.
Honda Motor Corp. said production at its factory in Kumamoto, the largest city seriously affected by the quakes, would be suspended until Friday.
More than half the deaths were in Mashiki, a town on the eastern border of Kumamoto city that was hit hardest by the first quake.
But fears that heavy overnight rain would cause further large landslides appeared to not have been realised.
Japanese media reported that a 51-year-old woman from Kumamoto had died on Monday from the condition.
Relief efforts are continuing in southern Japan amid hundreds of aftershocks after two deadly quakes.
Many residents were still recovering from the shock of the destruction, while struggling to bring their lives, and spirit, together.
Tens of thousands of people remain without electricity and water.
Two Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft were used in the airlift, in what was seen as a chance for the USA to demonstrate the usefulness of the aircraft, which can take off and land vertically.
The structural damage has left some people enduring cold temperatures by sleeping in their cars at an exhibition hall parking lot. The company said that the plants have reopened, but that it’s too early to say when they will return to full capacity.
Miyamoto said there was not sufficient food at the evacuation center, only a couple of rice balls each time.
The earthquakes have also disrupted the Japanese economy, as Toyota suspended production on its vehicle assembly line until April 28 due to a parts shortage.
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Key Toyota supplier Aisin Seiki has been forced to stop producing doors, engines and other parts at its subsidiary in Kumamoto Prefecture.
