Tokyo, 5 January 2024 (dpa/MIA) - The number of people missing after a massive earthquake struck the west coast of Japan on New Year's Day rose to some 200 on Friday, with 94 people now confirmed dead, Japanese media reported.

The government has doubled the number of soldiers deployed to the disaster area to 4,600 to support the emergency services, the reports said.

Four days after the quakes struck, the clock was ticking in the search for survivors. On Thursday, the death toll had stood at nearly 80.

There were media accounts that as many as 100 people remain under collapsed houses. The mountains of rubble, damaged roads, landslides and aftershocks continue to hamper the efforts of rescue teams.

In Ishikawa Prefecture, the hardest hit, at least 700 people are still cut off from the outside world.

The Kyodo news agency reported that around 30,000 households had lost their power supply and 80,000 households had lost their water supply.

According to the local authorities, around 33,000 people still have to hold out in hundreds of emergency shelters.

Since the earthquake on New Year's Day with a magnitude of 7.6, the region on the Sea of Japan has been shaken by more than 150 aftershocks.

Photo: MIA archive