TOKYO
The death toll from two powerful earthquakes in southwest Japan rose to 48 on Wednesday, with rescuers continuing to search for several people reported missing for five days.
News broadcaster NHK reported that teams scoured wreckage in Kumamoto Prefecture’s Minamiaso village for three people who remained unaccounted for since a magnitude 7.3 temblor early Saturday.
According to the prefecture’s government, around 10 people who were evacuated are believed to have died after their health worsened.
Kyodo news agency quoted Takenori Noma, a 68-year-old at a shelter in Mashiki village as saying, "I feel worse day by day, but I have nowhere else to go."
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet has decided to spend 2.3 billion yen ($21 million) in reserve funds to transport food, water and other supplies to the region as soon as possible.
Concerns for the health of more than 100,000 evacuated people mounted after a 51-year-old woman died Tuesday from deep vein thrombosis -- a condition known as “economy class syndrome” in which blood clots form after prolonged immobility -- after taking refuge in her car.
Around 280 people have been transported from shelters to hospitals since the initial strong temblor Thursday night -- the majority in Kumamoto.
Ever since last Thursday, more than 700 tremors detectable by humans hit Kumamoto and neighboring Oita Prefecture, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
Saturday’s quake was considered the main event and resulted in further destruction of private homes, bridges, roadways and expressways.
At least 9,000 houses and other buildings have reportedly been destroyed or damaged in Kumamoto and four other prefectures.
The Meteorological Agency warned of the increased possibility of landslides and flooding as rainfall of 40 to 50 millimeters per hour was forecast to hit Kumamoto and neighboring Oita on Thursday.
Meanwhile, a magnitude 5.8 quake hit east of the coast of Fukushima Prefecture on Wednesday night.
The tremor occurred 62 kilometers (38.5 mile) northeast of Namie town at a depth of 38.8 kilometers. In 2011, the region was rocked by a tsunami-earthquake that led to the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
