MENA Newswire News Desk: Heavy rainfall has claimed six lives and left 10 people missing in Japan’s Noto Peninsula, an area already suffering from damage caused by a powerful earthquake earlier this year. Emergency rescue teams are actively searching for the missing and working to restore critical infrastructure after the weekend’s torrential downpours. The rainfall, which began on Saturday, triggered landslides and caused rivers to overflow, cutting off road access to over 100 communities in Ishikawa Prefecture.
The floodwaters compounded damage from the magnitude-7.6 earthquake that hit the region on January 1, which had already weakened the area’s infrastructure. Among the dead were two people found near a landslide-hit tunnel in Wajima, a location already under repair due to earthquake damage. Several workers trapped at the site were rescued, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
Efforts are still underway to locate others reported missing after being swept away by swollen rivers. In the 48 hours leading up to Sunday afternoon, Wajima recorded nearly 500 millimeters of rainfall, while Suzu, another town in the Noto Peninsula, received around 400 millimeters. This unprecedented level of rainfall is twice the average amount typically seen in September. The Japan Meteorological Agency downgraded its emergency warnings for the region as the rain subsided, but urged residents in Ishikawa and neighboring Niigata Prefecture, which saw over 300 millimeters of rainfall, to remain vigilant.
The agency warned that the risk of landslides remains high, as the ground is still saturated from both the rain and the earlier earthquake. Rescue operations are ongoing, with authorities focused on reaching isolated areas and preventing further damage. Officials have warned that even minimal rainfall in the coming days could trigger more landslides in vulnerable regions.