Tokyo | Soldiers, firemen and emergency personnel made last-ditch efforts to rescue any survivors still trapped in the rubble from a New Year’s Day quake that devastated an area on Japan’s north-west coast and killed at least 78 people.
About 4600 personnel have been deployed to help in the rescue and relief efforts, Defence Minister Minoru Kihara said on Thursday. The military sent an amphibious vessel carrying heavy machinery to the coast of the Noto Peninsula, while sniffer dogs scoured the wreckage.
