(VOVWORLD) - At least 48 people were killed after a powerful earthquake hit Japan on New Year's Day, with rescue teams struggling on Tuesday to reach isolated areas where buildings had been toppled, roads wrecked and power cut to tens of thousands of homes.
A 3,000-strong rescue crew of army personnel, firefighters and police officers have been sent to the quake site on the Noto peninsula in Ishikawa prefecture. The search and rescue of those impacted by the quake is a battle against time, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said during an emergency meeting on Tuesday.
He said rescuers were finding it very difficult to access the northern tip of the Noto peninsula where helicopter surveys had discovered many fires and widespread damage to buildings and infrastructure. There are around 120 cases of people awaiting rescue, his government spokesperson said.
The quake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.6 struck on Monday afternoon, prompting people in coastal areas to flee to higher ground as tsunami waves hit Japan's western seaboard, sweeping cars and houses into the water.