A big earthquake happened in Japan on New Year’s Day. It was really strong. Sadly, at least 48 people died because of it. The earthquake was so powerful that it knocked down buildings, messed up roads, and stopped power to many homes.
The earthquake happened on Monday afternoon. Some areas near the coast got hit by big waves called tsunamis. These waves pushed cars and houses into the sea.
A lot of people are working hard to help. About 3,000 rescue workers, like army soldiers, firefighters, and police, came from all over Japan. They’re trying to reach places where the earthquake did the most damage.
The Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, said they’re in a race against time to save people. He talked about how hard it is to get to the northern part of the Noto peninsula. This is where the earthquake was really bad. They found fires and lots of buildings and roads broken there. About 120 people need help.
Many trains and flights in that area are not running. The airport in Noto had to close because the runway, building, and roads got damaged. Around 500 people were stuck in cars in the parking lot.
One mayor said about 1,000 houses got destroyed in his town called Suzu. He called the situation “catastrophic.”
The news says that 48 people died because of the earthquake, and many more got hurt. Most of the deaths happened in Wajima, another city hit hard by the earthquake.
A lot of aftershocks have happened since the earthquake. These are smaller earthquakes that come after the big one. The government said there might be more strong aftershocks soon.
One person who felt the earthquake said it was really scary. They had a family dinner for New Year’s when it happened. They had to sleep in their car because they were afraid to go back inside their house.
A big earthquake happened in Japan on New Year’s Day
Many world leaders sent messages saying they feel sad about what happened. President Joe Biden from the United States said they’re ready to help Japan if they need it.
The Japanese government told about 100,000 people to leave their homes and go to safe places on Monday night. But almost half of them came back home on Tuesday when the tsunami warnings went away.
However, about 33,000 homes still don’t have electricity, and nearly 20,000 homes don’t have water. It’s been really cold, and some people are struggling without these basic things.
The emperor and empress of Japan canceled their plans because of the earthquake. The Prime Minister also had to change his plans.
Japan’s defense minister said 1,000 soldiers are helping with rescue work, and more might come to help.
This earthquake is happening at a tough time for Japan because of the nuclear power plants. There’s been a lot of problems with these plants since a big earthquake and tsunami in 2011. Some plants had to shut down because of Monday’s earthquake, but no radiation leaked out.
Lots of companies are also checking their factories to see if they got damaged.
