Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-10 17:59:29|Editor: Liangyu

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TOKYO, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- The death toll of the powerful earthquake striking Japan's Hokkaido last week rose to 44 on Monday, the government said, with thousands still displaced as aftershocks continued to rumble and powers supply remained unstable. The pre-dawn, 6.7-magnitude quake on Thursday temporarily paralysed the island of Hokkaido, cutting off access by air and train and knocking out power to an island the size of Austria. About 2,500 people remain in evacuation centres, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency, after landslides buried houses and rain at the weekend loosened soil in a further threat to unstable houses. READ: No reports of Singaporeans injured in Hokkaido earthquake: MFA



Yoshihide Suga, the top government spokesman, said a team of about 40,000 Self-Defence Force troops, police, firefighters and others were working on clearing debris and other clean-up operations. There are now no reports of individuals missing and the search operations have officially been called off. Hokkaido Governor Harumi Takahashi has called on the people and businesses of Hokkaido for their cooperation in using less power, as consumption must be reduced by 20 percent at peak-times to avoid blackouts in Japan's northernmost prefecture. "It's very important now for all residents, businesses, the government, and electricity suppliers to work together towards this goal of 20 per cent energy-saving," Seko told a news conference late on Sunday. The government has no plans for rolling blackouts on Monday and Tuesday despite the continued closure of a fossil fuel-fired power plant that supplies about half the island’s power, he said. With electricity restored, Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) said on Monday its parts factory in Tomakomai, Hokkaido, which builds transmissions and other components, was preparing to resume production some time during the night shift starting at 8:30 p.m. (1130 GMT). The carmaker suspended production on Monday at 16 of its 18 domestic plants that manufacture the brand’s vehicles as it assessed the effects on its supply chain of a stoppage at Toyota Motor Hokkaido’s transmission plant, which supplies Toyota assembly plants at home and abroad. Production at the Hokkaido plant would resume later on Monday,

A Toyota spokeswoman said partial production would resume on Tuesday at some plants, including those near the company’s headquarters in Aichi Prefecture, and at subsidiary Toyota Auto Body Co operations on remaining lines would resume on Thursday.
The death toll from the earthquake in Hokkaido, Japan rises to 44. There are now no reports of individuals missing and the search operations have been called off.