Powerful earthquakes leave at least 48 dead, destroy buildings in Japan

Tokyo [Japan], January 3: A series of powerful earthquakes hit western Japan, leaving at least 48 people dead and damaging thousands of buildings, vehicles and boats.
Local officials today warned people in some areas to stay away from their homes because of a risk of more strong quakes.
Aftershocks continued to shake Ishikawa prefecture and nearby areas a day after a magnitude 7.6 temblor slammed the area yesterday (Monday).
Forty-eight people were confirmed dead in Ishikawa, officials said. Sixteen others were seriously injured, while damage to homes was so great that it could not immediately be assessed, they said.
Japan's military dispatched 1,000 soldiers to the disaster zones to join rescue efforts, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said today.
Nuclear regulators said several nuclear plants in the region were operating normally. A major quake and tsunami in March 2011 caused three reactors to melt and release large amounts of radiation at a nuclear plant in northeastern Japan.
Earlier:
The Sultanate of Oman expressed its sympathy with Japan as a result of the earthquake that struck the country on Monday, January 1, 2024.
Oman News Agency (ONA), reported that the Sultanate of Oman expressed its sympathy with the friendly government and people of Japan as a result of the earthquake it suffered yesterday.
In a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry today, it expressed its sincere condolences to the families of the victims and its wishes for a speedy recovery for the injured.
Source: Times of Oman