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Earthquake Alters Japan’s Shoreline: Dramatic Coastal Shift
Scientists claim that the coastline of Japan has shifted by over 250 meters, all due to a powerful earthquake that caused significant damage on January 1.
The residents of Japan did not envision the New Year as it turned out to be. On January 1, the Noto Peninsula experienced a strong earthquake with a magnitude of 7.6. The tremors were felt throughout Ishikawa Prefecture. Two weeks after the disaster, the death toll surpassed 200 people, with around 560 injured and over 20 still missing. It was the deadliest earthquake in the country since the Tōhoku disaster in 2011, the sixth in history with such strength, and the first since 2018.
Strong earthquake on the Noto Peninsula
Search and rescue efforts are still ongoing. Japanese authorities admitted that the rescue operation was extremely challenging due to extensive damage, landslides, and aftershocks.
A week after the earthquake, providing assistance to the affected became very difficult as the prefecture experienced heavy snowfall, with temperatures dropping below freezing. Thousands of people struggled with a lack of water. At least 36,000 households and 19 medical facilities lost access…
