TOKYO —
Evacuees, rescuers and officials in earthquake-ravaged areas of Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima prefectures observed a moment of silence at 2:46 p.m. Friday, exactly a week after a massive earthquake and tsunami hit northeastern and eastern Japan.
The death toll has reached 6,911, exceeding the 6,434 marked in the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake, the National Police Agency said. The total number of dead and unaccounted for in the largest natural catastrophe in postwar Japan reached 17,227.
Around 90,000 rescue workers, including police officers and Self-Defense Forces personnel, meanwhile, have reached some 26,000 survivors so far.
Vital infrastructure was gradually being restored in the areas, while the fate of tens of thousands of people remained unknown.
Damaged roads, airports and ports have been gradually repaired, with the Tohoku Expressway now open to emergency vehicles and the submerged Sendai Airport made available for airplanes and helicopters on relief missions.
But delivery of relief goods sent in from around the nation to evacuees and survivors still remains difficult due to shortages of fuel and transport vehicles. Some 370,000 people are still staying at 2,100 shelters at a time when temperatures in the quake-hit areas remain at midwinter levels..
Lets Pray for Japan.............................
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