Japan earthquake death toll exceeds 100, with hundreds still missing

The confirmed death toll from the New Year's Day earthquake in Japan reached 110 on Saturday as a search for survivors in the rubble of collapsed buildings entered a sixth day.

The magnitude 7.6 quake struck the west coast, destroying infrastructure and snapping power links to 22,000 homes in the Hokuriku region. Rain hampered efforts to sift the rubble for survivors as more than 30,000 evacuees awaited aid.

The number of confirmed dead was 110 by 4pm (0700 GMT) on Saturday, up from 94 the previous day, the Ishikawa government website showed. More than 200 people are still missing after the deadliest quake in nearly eight years.

"I am keenly aware of the extent of the damage caused," Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said as the toll crossed 100.

The figure is the highest since a toll of 276 in quakes in 2016 in the southwestern region of Kumamoto, a tally that includes related deaths.

Kishida told government officials to speed up emergency efforts to restore trunk roads ripped up by the quake so that rescue and relief activities can be increased.

Japan's Self-Defence Forces is set to reinforce the number of rescue staff by 400 to 5,400, with road disruptions among the obstacles hindering delivery of relief supplies.

Mudslides, boulders and road cracks left dozens of remote communities in Ishikawa prefecture isolated. In Wajima's Fukamimachi district, helicopters from the Self-Defence Forces airlifted at least 14 residents to safety, according to a Reuters witness.

Freelance cameraman Masao Mochizuki, 73, stood in a long queue outside a supermarket in the regional city of Wajima after it re-opened on Thursday, waiting to buy necessities.

"It is such a help that they have managed to re-open," Mochizuki told Reuters after buying a box of heat patches, blue plastic sheets to cover broken windows and a pair of shoes to protect against glass shards that litter the floors of his home.

"But I don't see the road to reconstruction just yet," Mochizuki added, his voice cracking with emotion.

Sleeping in cars

While the displaced have packed Wajima's evacuation centres for food, water and other basics, some residents are opting to sleep in their cars.

The Jan. 1 quakes destroyed the wooden home of Yutaka Obayashi, 75, and wife Akiko, 73. But after a night spent in a makeshift evacuation spot in a community centre, they decided to go home and sleep in their tiny passenger vehicle.

• Japan airliner fire: Jet cleared to land before collision, says carrier