1 dead, 10 missing as heavy rain pounds quake-hit Noto area

TOKYO — One person was killed, and more than 10 people are missing after unprecedented rainfall Saturday in Noto, the region in Ishikawa Prefecture that was hit hard by a magnitude-7.6 earthquake on New Year's Day, as Japan's weather agency issued an emergency heavy rain warning for the area.

More than 120 millimeters of rainfall per hour was recorded in the morning in Wajima, located in the Noto region of the central Japan prefecture, as linear rainbands, known to bring torrential downpours, formed. It was the heaviest rain the area has experienced since records began.

Prefectural authorities said one person was killed in Suzu in the region. In Wajima, 10 people are missing, the city's mayor said, while the fire department in the prefecture's northern area reported that three people are missing after being swept away by rivers in Suzu, Wajima, and Noto, the three municipalities where the warning was issued.

The land ministry office in charge of the Noto region's quake restoration said four people are unaccounted for after a landslide occurred at the construction site of a tunnel in Wajima damaged by the Jan. 1 earthquake.

Many houses in the area were also flooded, with around 3,100 households in Wajima, 1,200 in Suzu and 960 in Noto experiencing power outages, according to the prefecture.

There have been reports of someone being buried alive in a landslide and two people waving from the roof of a house.

According to the land ministry, more than 10 rivers had overflowed in the prefecture as of 11 a.m. As some levees were damaged by the earthquake on Jan. 1, the agency called for early evacuation, saying flooding could occur even at low water levels.

Ishikawa Gov. Hiroshi Hase called on people to act "in consideration of the anticipated dangerous situations," given that structures remain vulnerable in some areas following the powerful earthquake.

The Japan Meteorological Agency also warned that atmospheric conditions would become extremely unstable in the northeastern region of Tohoku due to the flow of warm, humid air into a low-pressure system.

The agency urged people to remain vigilant for landslides, flooding in low-lying areas and overflowing rivers in Tohoku and the Hokuriku region, including Noto, through Sunday.

JR East, which operates bullet trains in the eastern, northeastern and central areas, decided to suspend some of its Yamagata Shinkansen services in Tohoku from Saturday morning until the final train.

Highways and roads were closed in various places amid the heavy rain. In the Tohoku and Hokuriku regions, precipitation during the 24 hours through 6 a.m. Sunday was forecast to reach up to 150 mm, the agency said.

© KYODO