Japan Hit By Earthquake As Wildfires Rage In North

by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent

TOKYO (Worthy News) – A part of northern Japan was hit by a magnitude 6.2 earthquake while elsewhere in the region wildfires were burning through more than 1,600 hectares of forest as of Monday morning, authorities and witnesses said.

The inland quake struck 18 kilometers (11 miles) west of the small town of Sarabetsu on Japan’s northernmost main island of Hokkaido at a depth of 81 kilometers (50 miles), according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It measured the quake’s strength slightly lower than Japanese agencies at 6.1 magnitude.

A week ago, a 7.7 magnitude offshore earthquake prompted Japan to issue an advisory of a slightly higher risk of a possible megaquake for the nation’s northeastern coastal areas.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said Monday’s quake was outside of the area subject to a megaquake advisory and that the special awareness week is set to end as planned.

QUAKE AND ALERTS

Yet the attempted reassurances did little to ease residents in the northeastern town of Otsuchi, where volunteer firefighter Ryota Haga struggled to help contain more than 1,600 hectares of forest ablaze.

It wasn’t his first major tragedy. Haga recalled that he was in high school when the biggest earthquake ever recorded in Japan triggered a deadly tsunami and swept away his family home in Otsuchi in March 2011.

Now 31, with a wife and toddler, the volunteer firefighter faces another natural disaster. “It’s been 15 years since the (Great East Japan) Earthquake, and our lives were finally beginning to settle down,” Haga told Reuters news agency after battling the blaze Sunday.

Otsuchi was among the hardest-hit coastal towns in 2011, when a tsunami estimated around 10 meters (33 feet) high swept through the small fishing community. Nearly 1,300 residents—about a tenth of its population—perished, including its mayor.

FIRES SPREAD

The scale of the current fire is unlike anything Haga has experienced, he said. Some 1,400 firefighters and dozens of Self-Defense Force personnel have been deployed so far, with no immediate prospect of bringing the blaze under control, despite scattered rain forecast for Monday.

While Japan has experienced relatively few large-scale wildfires compared with other parts of the world, some observers say climate change has increased their frequency.

Early spring months ahead of the humid rainy season have reportedly been unusually hot, dry, and windy—conditions that can rapidly spread flames. Skeptics, however, have also linked the growing human toll to factors such as urbanization and land use changes.

On Sunday, another wildfire broke out in Fukushima, also in Japan’s northeastern region, underscoring mounting concerns among authorities.

STRAIN ON CREWS

For Haga, the rise in wildfires adds to a longer-term concern: an acute shortage of firefighters as Japan’s population declines and ages. His brigade is already below staffing levels set by authorities.

“If a forest fire breaks out when I’m in my 50s or 60s, and I’m the one gasping for breath while trying to fight it, I don’t think we’ll be able to stop it,” he said.

Still, Haga holds on to hope that the firefighters’ determination to protect their community will not be in vain.

“The next generation might be inspired to join the volunteer fire brigade,” he added.

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