Roundup: Heavy rain halts rescue operations in Japan's quake hit southwest as experts warn of further jolts

Search and rescue operations in quake-ravaged regions in Japan's southwest have been suspended due to heavy rain, with thunderstorms, landslides and flooding likely to further hamper rescue efforts in Kyushu, the weather agency said Thursday.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), both Kumamoto and Oita prefectures in northern Kyushu, the epicenters of two major quakes last week that have claimed the lives of 48 people and left thousands injured, could receive as much as 70 millimeters per hour of rain.

The JMA has issued weather warnings to the disaster-struck regions saying that heavy rain and storms could lead to landslides and flooding, with prefectural officials halting search and rescue operations to safeguard the personnel involved, including Self-Defense Force members and firefighters.

The weather agency also said that soil loosened by the quakes and around 750 aftershocks through Thursday, could become further unstable when saturated by rain, which would increase likelihood of landslides and more buildings collapsing.

According to the latest reports, more than 10,000 buildings have collapsed or been damaged since the first quake a week ago, mostly in Kumamoto, with 100,000 people there and 1,000 from neighboring Oita still displaced and taking refuge in evacuation shelters or temporary accommodation, including hotels and vehicles in car parks.

Compounding the travesty in Kumamoto, 90,000 homes are still without direct access to water.

As evacuation facilities become overcrowded and lacking in essential supplies including food, the central government has said it will start using ferries to house the displaced, many of whom are suffering under cramped conditions which are exacerbating both physical ailments and triggering mental health problems.

Defense Minister Gen Nakatani has said that his ministry has secured the 200-meter long passenger and cargo ferry called Hakuou, that is due to dock in a port in Kumamoto prefecture on Thursday.

The ferry will also be transporting more SDF troops to help with search and relief efforts in the region.

The Transport Ministry, in addition, has said that it had commandeered four ferries that can house around 2,000 evacuees.

Along with the decline in weather conditions, experts have also warned that the region could experience another major quake due to a "chain reaction."

The JMA has said that the hundred of "microquakes" that the Yatsushiro area has been experiencing from north to south along the Hinagu fault zone, could lead to a larger quake due to seismic pressure being stored and building up.

"Even after a smaller magnitude-5-class quake, there is still energy in the ground, so it is possible that a Magnitude 7-class earthquake like the main one that struck on April 16 could occur along the Hinagu (second) segment," Teruyuki Kato, a professor of plate tectonics at the University of Tokyo, was quoted as saying.

In addition, Shinji Toda, a professor of earthquake geology at Tohoku University added that, "Residents and local governments should be prepared because an even larger earthquake could occur if there is concurrent activity along both the Hinagu and Yatsushirokai segments." Endit