SAPPORO -- Intensive search-and-rescue operations continued Friday and Saturday in Atsuma, Hokkaido, almost 72 hours after a strong earthquake in the prefecture's southeast triggered large-scale landslides in the town.
The 72-hour mark is critical, as the survival rate of those buried alive is said to fall sharply from that point onward.
The death toll from the earthquake had risen to 21, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a press conference on Saturday morning.
Tremors believed to be aftershocks have continued in Hokkaido. As of 11 a.m. Saturday, 129 such tremors had occurred, including one earlier in the morning that measured 3 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7. The Japan Meteorological Agency has called on those affected to remain on alert.
According to the government, six people were in a state of cardiac arrest and another 13 remained unaccounted for. The Hokkaido government said that 401 people were injured and more than 75 buildings damaged.
The Self-Defense Forces conducted overnight search operations from late Friday into early Saturday. According to the public relations division of the Ground Self-Defense Force's Northern Army, about 4,200 SDF personnel were engaged in search-and-rescue operations in Atsuma's Yoshino and Tomisato areas as of 8:30 a.m. Saturday.
The Hokkaido police resumed search activities at 9 a.m. the same day.
Power restored for 99%
Meanwhile, restoration of residents' lives has been advanced. Blackouts that at one time affected 2.95 million households and almost all of Hokkaido had mostly been resolved by Saturday morning, according to Hokkaido Electric Power Co.
The company said that power had been restored to about 2.93 million households, or about 99 percent of all households in the region, as of 8 a.m. the same day. It said it will aim to restore power to the remaining 20,000 households as early as possible.
Difficulties with communications have also improved.
According to an estimate by the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry, power consumption will peak at about 3.4 million kilowatts during the weekend. The ministry said that a supply capacity of 3.47 million to 3.6 million kilowatts will be secured on Saturday mainly due to the restart of thermal power plants in Hokkaido and the interchange of power from Honshu.
Following the restoration of the power supply, about 1,400 gas stations, or about 80 percent of all gas stations in Hokkaido, were expected to resume operations on Saturday.
Private-sector production activities will likely resume Monday, and demand for electricity is expected to increase.
Electricity consumption on weekdays generally peaks at 3.8 million kilowatts. As peak consumption will exceed the available supply by about 10 percent, consumers will need to moderate their use of electricity.
At a meeting Saturday morning of Cabinet ministers involved in earthquake countermeasures, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he planned to use reserve funds from the fiscal 2018 budget to provide aid to areas afflicted by the earthquake. Abe indicated he would utilize push-type support to transport relief supplies without waiting for requests from disaster-affected areas.
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