Search and rescue operations for survivors of the Noto earthquake continue today in Japan’s Ishikawa prefecture, where local authorities confirmed at least 65 dead and 304 injured.

According to official reports, there are hundreds of collapsed houses in the cities of Wajima, Suzu, and Noto in the aforementioned Japanese prefecture, as well as isolated districts due to the interruption of the road network, hampering rescue efforts.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told a press conference that the number of Self-Defense Forces personnel mobilized to the disaster areas would be increased to 2,000 and that the number of rescue dogs would be doubled.

He also promised continued support to the affected people, with an emphasis on transporting relief supplies to the temporary shelters that house a total of 57,360 evacuees.

The earthquake of magnitude 7.6 on the Richter scale, which occurred in the Noto Peninsula on the first day of the year, caused severe structural damage in the city of Wajima, Ishikawa, as well as a large-scale fire that consumed more than two hundred buildings, including homes and commercial establishments.

Significant damage was also reported in the prefectures of Niigata, Fukui, Toyama, and Gifu.

Two days after the earthquake, tens of thousands of people in the center of the Asian nation are without electricity and water.

In this regard, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry warned that the restoration of power would take some time due to further outages and poor ground conditions.

Alerts around the Shika nuclear power plant, Ishikawa, were activated Wednesday after Hokuriku Electric Power reported a three-meter rise in water levels at the site caused by the post-earthquake tsunami.

The transformers used to supply external electricity to the reactors were damaged, causing oil leaks and the inoperability of some of the thermonuclear power plant’s systems, according to NHK news channel.

It should be noted that the plant’s two reactors were shut down before the earthquake.