The downpour drenched the Noto Peninsula on Saturday, triggering landslides and washing away people and homes, Japan’s national broadcaster said.
Six people have died after a record amount of rain triggered flooding and landslides in a coastal region in Japan still recovering from a deadly earthquake earlier this year, according to local authorities.
The rain, which drenched Noto Peninsula in western Japan on Saturday, washed away people and homes, the national broadcaster NHK reported. In western and southern Japan, evacuations were ordered for more than 100,000 people, and the government issued some of the most severe emergency warnings for heavy rain. The warning was downgraded on Sunday, and some people have started returning home.
Five people were killed in Wajima City, and another in nearby Suzu City, local officials said.
Both cities saw record-breaking rainfall on Saturday: About 10.7 inches of rain fell in Wajima City in six hours, nearly double the previous record of about 5.5 inches, which was set in 2007. In Suzu City, 7.5 inches of rain fell in six hours, compared with the previous record of 5.2 inches, set in 1989.
The death in Suzu City occurred after a house was engulfed by a landslide, NHK reported. In Wajima City, two people died after a landslide hit a tunnel where earthquake recovery work was underway, and 10 others were rescued. Two more people died in landslides, and one corpse was pulled from a river.
Another two people were missing after being swept away by rivers, NHK reported, and four others are unaccounted for after their homes were swept away.
The Noto Peninsula was struck by a powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake on New Year’s Day. At least 229 people were killed, according to NHK, making it Japan’s deadliest earthquake in a decade. Later, about 100 additional people died from causes related to the earthquake, the agency said.
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