5 Victims Mourned a Week after Osaka Quake

June 25, 2018

Takatsuki, Osaka Pref.- Local residents came together to mourn the five victims of the 6.1-magnitude earthquake that rocked northern areas of the western Japan prefecture of Osaka a week ago.

Among the victims, who were all in the prefecture, was nine-year-old girl Rina Miyake, a fourth-grader at Juei Elementary School in the city of Takatsuki. She died after being trapped under a collapsed concrete wall outside the swimming pool at her school. The wall was later found to have violated the country's building standards law.

As of 10 a.m. Monday (1 a.m. GMT), the total number of people injured in the quake stood at 417 in Osaka and nearby prefectures, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency. A total of 6,925 houses in and around Osaka were destroyed or damaged, while about 480 people have been evacuated.

Shortly before 8 a.m., some 20 staff members of Juei Elementary School, including the school's principal, Yoshimi Tanaka, observed a moment of silence for Miyake at the site of the collapsed wall. More than 100 bunches of flowers were laid at an altar set up close by.

The powerful earthquake occurred at 7:58 a.m. on June 18, registering lower 6, the third-highest level on Japan's seismic intensity scale, in Takatsuki and other municipalities in northern Osaka Prefecture.

A 31-year-old man, who placed food and drink at the altar, criticized the Takatsuki municipal government for failing to notice that the concrete wall was faulty, calling for "a thorough investigation to ensure that such a tragedy never happens again."

Some 100 employees of the Takatsuki municipal government, including high-ranking officials, offered prayers at the city hall.

"We should never forget the tragic event," Takatsuki Mayor Takeshi Hamada told staff members, vowing to do everything to prevent deaths in future disasters.

Some 10 people were still sheltering at an elementary school gymnasium on Sunday night in the city of Ibaraki, which suffered major damage from the quake.

"We've been unable to go home as we're afraid of aftershocks," said a woman in her 40s who was staying at the gym with her family.

A 45-year-old housewife said she is considering moving because the door of her condominium remains damaged and the elevator in her building is still out of service.

Ichiro Matsui, governor of Osaka Prefecture, said Monday that the prefecture is considering setting up a loan program to support reconstruction of houses damaged by the quake.

The prefecture is seeking financial support from the central government as it may make the program interest-free, Matsui told reporters at the prefectural government office in the city of Osaka.

Partially damaged houses are not covered by a law that supports people affected by disasters.

As of Monday morning, three houses in the prefecture were found to have been completely destroyed by the earthquake, 13 half-destroyed and 6,352 partially damaged, according to the prefectural government.

At a press conference in Tokyo on Monday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga reiterated, "Japanese government agencies are united to promote the recovery of facilities damaged by the disaster and assist people who have been affected."

"The lessons we have learned from the earthquake, including the need to ensure the safety of schools, can be put to use in times of disasters in the future," the top government spokesman said.

The government is ready to provide financial aid to affected local communities to support reconstruction work, he added. Jiji Press