Search, Rescue, and Recovery After Japan Earthquakes

Alan Taylor
April 18, 2016
30 Photos
In Focus

Late last week, a series of powerful earthquakes struck southern Japan over several days, the most powerful—Magnitude 7.3—occurring early on April 16. Instruments have measured more than 70 earthquakes greater than Magnitude 4.0 in the region since Thursday. As of Sunday, 41 people have been reported killed, more than 3,000 injured, and 11 are still listed as missing. AFP reports that at least 80,000 homes are now without power, and 400,000 with no running water. Today, 30,000 rescuers are racing against weather and the threat of more landslides to find anyone else who may remain trapped.

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A rescue dog searches for survivors in the rubble of a house which collapsed after the earthquakes in Mashiki, Kumamoto prefecture, on April 17, 2016. #

AFP / Getty

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An eight-month-old baby is carried away by a rescue worker after being rescued from her collapsed home caused by an earthquake in Mashiki town, Kumamoto prefecture, southern Japan, on April 15, 2016. #

Kumamoto Prefectural Police / Reuters

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A woman takes shelter after another earthquake hit the area of a hotel in Kumamoto, southern Japan, on April 16, 2016. #

Kyodo / Reuters

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Police officers check a collapsed house after an earthquake in Mashiki town, Kumamoto prefecture, on April 16, 2016. #

Kyodo / Reuters

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Landslide site caused by an earthquake in Minamiaso town, Kumamoto prefecture, on April 16, 2016. #

Kyodo / Reuters

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A landslide after an earthquake in Minami-Aso, Kumamoto prefecture on April 16, 2016. #

AFP / Getty

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At a landslide site caused by an earthquake, a son, whose father is missing, helps his mother as they leave from their collapsed house. Taken in Minamiaso town, Kumamoto prefecture, on April 17, 2016. #

Kyodo / Reuters

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Policemen search for missing persons amongst homes destroyed in the recent earthquakes in Mashiki, in Kumamoto prefecture, on April 17, 2016. #

Kazuhiro Nogi / AFP / Getty

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A man walks near a house and car damaged by an earthquake in Mashiki town, Kumamoto prefecture, on April 15, 2016. #

Kyodo / Reuters

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The picture shows a road damaged by earthquakes in Aso, Kumamoto prefecture, on April 17, 2016. #

AFP / Getty

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Police rescue team members check for the possibility of trapped people in collapsed houses in Mashiki, Kumamoto prefecture, on April 15, 2016. #

Koji Ueda / AP

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A man clears away debris of a broken wall in Mashiki, Kumamoto prefecture, on April 16, 2016. #

Kazuhiro Nogi / AFP / Getty

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Japan Ground Self-Defense Force soldiers conduct search and rescue operations at an apartment which collapsed following an earthquake in Minamiaso town on April 17, 2016. #

Joint Staff of the Defence Ministry of Japan / Reuters

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A landslide site after earthquakes in Minami-Aso, Kumamoto prefecture, on April 17, 2016. #

Kazuhiro Nogi / AFP / Getty

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Landslides caused by two earthquakes, on April 17, 2016, in Kumamoto, Japan. #

Taro Karibe / Getty

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Policemen search for survivors at a landslide site after earthquakes in Minami-Aso, Kumamoto prefecture, on April 17, 2016. #

Kazuhiro Nogi / AFP / Getty

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Rescuers and guide dogs search for victims buried in a landslide due to the recent earthquakes in the village of Minami-Aso on April 18, 2016. #

Kazuhiro Nogi / AFP / Getty

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This aerial view shows damaged houses covered with blue plastic sheets to shelter them from the rain after an earthquake in Mashiki on April 16, 2016. #

STR / AFP / Getty

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Sign words formed by chairs reading “(Toilet) Paper, Bread, Water, and SOS” are seen on a playground at Kumamoto Kokufu High School after an earthquake in Kumamoto, southern Japan, in this aerial view photo on April 17, 2016. #

Kyodo / Reuters

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Evacuees from a nursing home wrap themselves in blankets as they take shelter outside their damaged nursing home caused by an earthquake in Mashiki town, Kumamoto prefecture, on April 17, 2016. #

Kyodo / Reuters

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Local residents sleep at Kumamoto City Hall after evacuating their houses on April 17, 2016, in Kumamoto, Japan. #

Taro Karibe / Getty

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The stone wall of Kumamoto Castle is seen damaged by the earthquake on April 15, 2016, in Kumamoto, Japan. #

Masterpress / Getty

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Police officers check a collapsed house after an earthquake in Mashiki town, Kumamoto prefecture, on April 17, 2016. #

Kyodo / Reuters

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A U.S. Marine tilt-rotor Osprey aircraft takes off after delivering emergency aid supplies as part of relief efforts in Minami-Aso, Kumamoto prefecture, on April 18, 2016. On April 18, Japan enlisted U.S. help to airlift supplies to some of the 100,000 people whose homes were damaged or destroyed by earthquakes in the country's south, while rescuers struggled to find nine still missing after a massive landslide. #

Kazuhiro Nogi / AFP / Getty

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People line up to get food and water supplies at an elementary school acting as an evacuation center after an earthquake in Mashiki town, Kumamoto prefecture, on April 17, 2016. #

Kyodo / Reuters

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Rescue teams prepare to search for survivors on April 17, 2016, in Kumamoto, Japan. #

Taro Karibe / Getty

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A house is seen collapsed a day after the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake on April 15, 2016, in Mashiki, Kumamoto, Japan. #

Masterpress / Getty

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Broken pavement, after a recent earthquake on April 16, 2016 in Kumamoto, Japan. #

Taro Karibe / Getty

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Houses are seen destroyed after a recent earthquake on April 16, 2016, in Kumamoto, Japan. #

Taro Karibe / Getty

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Rescuers and a search dog check the damage around a landslide area caused by earthquakes in Minamiaso, Kumamoto prefecture, on April 17, 2016. #

Shizuo Kambayashi / AP

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