Tokyo
\nJapan\u2019s prime minister vowed to provide \u201cceaseless\u201d support to areas devastated by the New Year\u2019s Day earthquake as snow and sleet hampered rescue and relief efforts and local media reported that the disaster had now claimed at least 126 lives.
\nThe adverse weather on the Noto peninsula continued to vex survivors at the epicenter of the magnitude 7.6 quake that left more than 30,000 homeless and cut power to tens of thousands of residences and businesses.
\nAt least 222 people are still reported missing and more heavy snow or rain is forecast overnight for the region. Footage on national broadcaster NHK showed construction trucks digging through piles of dirt three meters (almost 10 ft)tall to unearth houses buried by landslides.
\n\u201cRescuing people trapped under the rubble and responding to isolated areas are issues that must be tackled with the highest priority,\u201d Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on an NHK program on Sunday.
\n\u201cAs we move forward with ceaseless reconstruction and recovery efforts, we must not hesitate in responding due to budget constraints in the disaster-affected areas,\u201d he added.
\nKishida had said on Friday that his government would tap 4.74 billion yen ($32.77 million) of budget reserves for reconstruction efforts.
\nThe governor of Ishikawa Prefecture, where the Noto peninsula is located, declared a state of emergency on Saturday, calling the quake \u201can unprecedented disaster\u201d for the region, NHK reported.
\nIn the city of Wajima, on the peninsula\u2019s northern coast, a line of cars stretching as far as the eye could see had formed to refuel at a petrol station as fuel supply to the region gradually returned.
\nPrefectural governments have sent trailers equipped with several flushable toilets to evacuation centres in Wajima and other disaster-struck cities, where water supplies are only just restarting, NHK reported.
\nAt a centre near Wajima\u2019s famed \u201cAsaichi\u201d morning market, which was burnt to the ground after the quake, some of the 700 people taking shelter there stood in a line on a stairway, passing boxes of water to higher floors.
\n\u201cSome people have left as electricity is restored in parts of the city (but) we are still at capacity and not accepting new evacuees,\u201d the centre\u2019s receptionist said<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tokyo Japan\u2019s prime minister vowed to provide \u201cceaseless\u201d support to areas devastated by the New Year\u2019s Day earthquake as snow and sleet hampered rescue and relief efforts and local media reported that the disaster had now claimed at least 126 lives. The adverse weather on the Noto peninsula continued to vex survivors at the epicenter […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":379376,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-379353","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n