Tens of Thousands Feared Dead In Japan

Japanese authorities are now saying that the number of deaths could reach more than ten thousand from the earthquake that rocked the eastern part of the nation Friday.
Tens of Thousands Feared Dead In Japan
Rescue workers check the remains of a tsunami devastated house for people in Natori in Miyagi prefecture on March 13, 2011. (Mike Clarke/AFP/Getty Images)
3/13/2011
Updated:
10/1/2015
<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/110037184.jpg" alt="Rescue workers check the remains of a tsunami devastated house for people in Natori in Miyagi prefecture on March 13, 2011. (Mike Clarke/AFP/Getty Images)" title="Rescue workers check the remains of a tsunami devastated house for people in Natori in Miyagi prefecture on March 13, 2011. (Mike Clarke/AFP/Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1806846"/></a>
Rescue workers check the remains of a tsunami devastated house for people in Natori in Miyagi prefecture on March 13, 2011. (Mike Clarke/AFP/Getty Images)
Japanese authorities are now saying that the number of deaths could reach more than ten thousand from the earthquake that rocked the eastern part of the nation Friday. A shortage of power supplies has been affecting the search and rescue operations leading authorities to encourage continued energy conservation.

Power supplies are said to be limited in Japan’s north eastern Kanto Region. Search and rescue teams are continuing to find people who lost their lives in the massive earthquake. Japan’s recent earthquake was originally recorded as being an 8.9 but now it is said to have been a 9.0.

The number of confirmed deaths has been reported as being around 1,300 but Head of Miyagi Prefecture Police, Naoto Takeuchi said publicly that the number of people assumed to be dead is in the tens of thousands. On the 13th of March the National Police Agency reported 977 dead, with 739 people missing and 270,000 evacuees.

The tsunami waves are causing confusion for rescue crews. Police are estimating that tens of thousands of people could also be missing. The clean up efforts in Japan could easily last in to the month of April. Recently Japanese authorities also announced a concern regarding a nuclear reactor. Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano spoke publicly about the issue Sunday.

“It is estimated that a large amount of hydrogen has accumulated near the upper area of the building at the No. 3 Reactor, and there is a possibility of hydrogen explosion,” said Edano at a press conference.

Planned rotating power outages will be implemented in various areas of Japan to help conserve energy. Citizens are asked to limit usage on their own but authorities will establish times where power will be cut off completely. The power cut offs will last for three hours per area.

Toyota, the car manufacturer, announced that they will stop production completely on Sunday to help with energy conservation efforts. Nissan and Honda have also announced that they will cease production on Monday. No date has been announced as to when the power cut offs will be ended.

The magnitude of Japan’s earthquake is hard to conceive by most Americans who have not witnessed such a severe earthquake in close over a hundred years. In 1906 San Francisco was rocked by a 7.9 earthquake. More than 3,000 people were said to have died in the earthquake that is now remembered as one of the most devastating natural disasters in the history of the United States.