SEOUL, South Korea — With 2024 just two days old, Japan has already been rocked by dual disasters — an earthquake on its western coast and a plane crash at a major Tokyo airport.
Some 55 people have been confirmed dead as of late Tuesday, after an earthquake struck the Noto Peninsula on New Year’s Day. Authorities warned that the death toll could rise as rescue efforts were ongoing, and reports said victims remained trapped under rubble as thousands of buildings, vehicles and boats were damaged.
Just hours later after darkness had descended, Haneda, one of two airports serving Tokyo, was forced to close when a Japan Airlines airliner went up in flames on the ground.
The blaze was reportedly caused by a ground collision with a Coast Guard aircraft engaged in earthquake disaster relief. Early reports from Japanese broadcaster NHK said that five of the six members of the Coast Guard crew aboard the Bombardier Dash-8 aircraft were killed in the incident. Only the pilot survived.
In a grim coincidence, the Coast Guard aircraft was preparing to take off to deliver aid to the earthquake-affected areas when it was struck.
JAL Managing Executive Officer Tadayuki Tsutsumi told a news conference late Tuesday that the A350 was making a “normal entry and landing” on the runway, The Associated Press reported, without specifying how it collided with the Coast Guard plane. Noriyuki Aoki, also a managing executive officer at JAL, said the airline maintains that the flight had received permission to land from aviation officials.
The Noto Peninsula, northwest of Tokyo on the main island of Honshu, sticks out into the Sea of Japan for approximately 60 miles. That’s where the 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck at 4:10 p.m. on New Year’s Day.
Property damage was extensive from both the reverberations — including a seven-story building that toppled — and from fires that broke out in the quake’s aftermath.
Residents reportedly remained trapped under the rubble late Tuesday. Over 1,000 Self Defense Force personnel have been mobilized for rescue operations.
Footage from the quake itself showed people in offices hiding under desks as buildings and all fittings shook violently. Any earthquake with a magnitude greater than seven makes it impossible for people to stand up, Japanese news accounts said. Tremors continued for two minutes, shaken residents reported.
Footage from the area in the aftermath showed older toppled houses, but newer houses with earthquake-resistant structures appeared to be standing. Massive, jagged cracks could be seen carved through the concrete of roads and bridges.
Evacuated residents were photographed sheltering at SDF bases, elementary schools and even in plastic greenhouses.
Many people evacuated to high ground to escape a postquake tsunami, though the giant waves never materialized and tsunami warnings were lifted on Tuesday morning.
A planned New Year’s broadcast by the emperor was canceled in light of the crisis.
Traumatic memories remain fresh in Japan of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that killed over 20,000, largely in eastern Japan, and sparked a meltdown at the Fukushima Nuclear Plant in April 2011.
Despite widespread global fears, the Fukushima crisis was successfully contained without significant fatalities.
The airport disaster only added to the New Year’s unease in a country widely known for the quality of its services and the strength of its infrastructure. A Japan Airlines aircraft — reportedly an Airbus A350 — inbound from the northern island of Hokkaido, went up in flames at Haneda.
There appears to be no direct connection between the aircraft blaze and the earthquake. Preliminary news reports from Japan state that the passenger plane had collided with a Coast Guard aircraft on the runway.
Footage aired by broadcaster NHK showed the commercial aircraft trailing bright orange fireballs as it raced along the runway after landing. Different video clips showed passengers milling around as smoke filled the cabin.
No injuries or deaths were reported among the 367 people on board, who were reportedly evacuated safely.
Subsequent footage from the airport showed the airplane blazing ferociously from nose to tail in the darkness as firefighters trained hoses on the conflagration. While news cameras ran, the fuselage broke in half.
• This article was based in part on wire service reports.
• Andrew Salmon can be reached at asalmon@washingtontimes.com.
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