Asia | Off to a dire start

A major earthquake in Japan highlights the country’s resilience

At least 78 were killed. But the feared tsunami did not happen

A collapsed building in Wajima in the central Japan prefecture of Ishikawa following a strong earthquake that rocked a wide area on the Sea of Japan
Japan keeps calm and carries onPhotograph: Getty Images
|TOKYO

THE NEW YEAR began dreadfully in Japan. At around 4:10pm on January 1st a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck the Noto peninsula on the northern side of Honshu, the country’s main island, killing at least 78 people. The earth shook even in Tokyo, some 300km (185 miles) away. The following day a Japan Airlines flight burst into flames after landing at Tokyo’s Haneda airport and colliding with a Japan Coast Guard plane that entered the same runway while on a mission to deliver supplies to the earthquake disaster zone.

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This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “An inauspicious beginning”

From the January 6th 2024 edition

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