Japan's southern quake-hit area has been rattled by a strong aftershock and searchers have found a woman's body buried under landslide rubble, raising the death toll from the twin earthquakes to 45.
More than 100,000 evacuees, some sleeping in their cars and others in gymnasiums or community centres, were bracing for another chilly night on Tuesday.
Many people are afraid to stay in their homes as aftershocks continue to shake the area on the southern island of Kyushu, including a magnitude 5.5 quake on Tuesday afternoon.
Authorities are advising people staying in cars and shelters to move about to avoid developing deep-vein thrombosis, or blood clots that develop after being immobile for a long time. Japanese media reported that a 51-year-old woman from Kumamoto had died on Monday from the condition.
At least 23 people have developed symptoms, Kyodo News service said. Saiseikai Kumamoto Hospital said on Tuesday it had diagnosed 10 cases, including two people in critical condition.
The area around Kumamoto was hit by two quakes within 28 hours of each other late on Thursday and early on Saturday, triggering landslides that have blocked roads. The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said nearly 1200 houses had been destroyed.
Nine people died in the first, magnitude 6.4 earthquake, and at least 36 died in the second one, which registered 7.3. About 1100 have been injured.
The hardest-hit towns are Mashiki, where 20 residents died, and Minamiaso, a remote mountain area where 11 died and the death toll is creeping up as soldiers and emergency workers use backhoes and shovels to search for missing people.
Temperatures around Kumamoto city are forecast to fall to 8C overnight.
Several soldiers carried a woman's body down on a plastic tray covered with an olive-green tarp on Tuesday morning as dozens of workers dug through where a mudslide slammed into buildings in Saturday's quake.
Food shortages and cuts to water service are plaguing the relief effort.
American military airlifts are helping to deliver water, bread, ready-to-eat food and other emergency supplies to remote areas.
Limited flights resumed to Kumamoto Airport on Tuesday, but outbound passenger flights remain almost entirely suspended because of severe damage to the terminal building.
Share
