By Tomohiro Osaki with Natsuko Fukue in Tokyo WAJIMA, Japan, Jan 4, 2024 (AFP) – Thousands of Japanese rescuers on Thursday battled rubble and blocked roads as hopes faded for dozens listed as missing three days after a devastating earthquake that killed at least 84. Hundreds of people in more than a dozen communities remained cut off in Ishikawa prefecture in central Japan, devastated by the 7.5-magnitude quake on New Year’s Day. Regional governor Hiroshi […]
Tag: Japan
Japan Airlines pilots had no ‘visual contact’ before collision
By Hiroshi HIYAMA TOKYO, Jan 4, 2024 (AFP) – Pilots on a Japan Airlines plane that burst into flames just after all 379 passengers and crew escaped had no “visual contact” with the other aircraft in the collision, the airline said Thursday. The three pilots were also unable to see the fire from the cockpit when it first broke out and were informed of it by cabin crew, a JAL spokesman told AFP. The airliner […]
Hundreds cut off after Japan quake that killed 78
NANAO, Japan, Jan 4, 2024 (AFP) – More than 50 people were reported missing Thursday as Japanese rescuers battled to reach hundreds still cut off from help three days after a devastating earthquake left at least 78 dead. As the frantic search for survivors continues, more than a dozen communities remained isolated by landslides and blocked roads in central Japan, where the 7.5-magnitude quake struck on Monday. The powerful main tremor, followed by hundreds of […]
Japan Airlines pilots ‘unaware of fire’ at first
By Hiroshi HIYAMA TOKYO, Jan 4, 2024 (AFP) – Pilots on a Japan Airlines plane engulfed in flames just after all 379 passengers and crew escaped were initially unaware the aircraft was on fire, according to fresh details reported Thursday. The airliner collided with a coast guard plane after landing at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport on Tuesday evening. All but one of the six people on the smaller aircraft were killed. A ball of flame erupted […]
Black box from US Osprey found off Japan
TOKYO, Jan 4, 2024 (AFP) – The black box from an Osprey military aircraft that crashed off Japan in November with eight people on board has been recovered, the US military said Thursday, five weeks after the accident. “Critical equipment identified by investigation officials has been recovered, including the Voice and Data Recorder, often called the black box,” US Air Force Special Operations Command spokeswoman Rebecca Heyse said. “The equipment will be transported to laboratories […]
Tokyo market plunges in first trade of 2024
TOKYO, Jan 4, 2024 (AFP) – Tokyo stocks opened sharply lower Thursday, the first trading day of 2024, playing catch-up with falls of US shares. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index dropped 1.93 percent, or 646.30 points, to 33,817.87 in early trade, while the broader Topix index fell 1.24 percent, or 29.25 points, to 2,337.14. After closing 2023 on Friday, the Tokyo market reopened after its New Year break, during which the US market marked two […]
Japan quake toll rises to 73 as weather hampers rescuers
By Tomohiro OSAKI ANAMIZU, Japan, Jan 3, 2024 (AFP) – Japanese rescuers struggled with heavy rain, blocked roads and aftershocks on Wednesday following a powerful earthquake that killed at least 73 people and left tens of thousands without power or running water. Throughout the Ishikawa prefecture on the main island of Honshu sirens blared as emergency vehicles tried to navigate roads blocked by rocks and fallen trees. The Noto Peninsula was worst hit by the […]
The ‘textbook’ evacuation from Japan jet inferno
By Hiroshi HIYAMA, Etienne BALMER TOKYO, Jan 3, 2024 (AFP) – After landing, smoke filled the cabin and flames licked the windows, but the Japan Airlines crew got all 367 passengers safely off the aircraft in an orderly fashion — and just in time. Babies and children screamed and panic-stricken passengers begged to be let off, footage from the scene on Tuesday at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport showed. “Honestly, I thought we wouldn’t survive. So I […]
Japan quake toll rises to 55 as weather hampers rescuers
By Tomohiro OSAKI WAJIMA, Japan, Jan 3, 2024 (AFP) – Japanese rescuers scrambled to search for survivors Wednesday as authorities warned of landslides and heavy rain after a powerful earthquake that killed at least 55 people. The 7.5 magnitude quake on January 1 that rattled Ishikawa prefecture on the main island of Honshu triggered tsunami waves more than a metre high, sparked a major fire and tore apart roads. The Noto Peninsula of the prefecture […]
Five dead in Japan plane collision at Tokyo airport
TOKYO, Jan 2, 2024 (AFP) – Five people aboard a Japan coast guard aircraft died Tuesday when it hit a Japan Airlines passenger plane on the ground in a fiery collision at Tokyo’s Haneda airport. All 379 passengers and crew on board the passenger plane which burst into flames were safely evacuated, Japanese transport minister Tetsuo Saito told reporters. But five of the six crew members from the smaller plane — bound for central Japan […]
S. Korea protests Japan tsunami advisory inclusion of disputed islands
SEOUL, Jan 2, 2024 (AFP) – South Korea on Tuesday said it has lodged a “stern” protest against Tokyo’s inclusion of disputed islands in a tsunami advisory issued after a major earthquake struck a day earlier. Seoul has controlled the Dokdo islets — known as Takeshima in Japan — located off its east coast since 1945, when Tokyo’s colonial rule of the Korean peninsula ended. Tokyo says the islands are illegally occupied by South Korea. […]
At least 48 dead after monster Japan quake
By Fred Mery with Hiroshi Hiyama in Tokyo WAJIMA, Japan, Jan 2, 2024 (AFP) – Japanese rescuers battled the clock and powerful aftershocks Tuesday to find survivors of a New Year’s Day earthquake that killed at least 48 people and caused widespread destruction. The 7.5 magnitude quake that rattled Ishikawa prefecture on the main island of Honshu triggered tsunami waves more than a metre high, caused a major fire and tore apart roads. On the […]





