A woman in her 90s is rescued alive 5 days after Japan's deadly earthquake

A woman in her 90s is rescued alive 5 days after Japan’s deadly earthquake

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Police officers go into a building at the premises of a temple to search for victims in Wajima in the Noto peninsula, facing the Sea of Japan, northwest of Tokyo, Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024, following Monday’s deadly earthquake. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

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Police officers conduct a search operation in Wajima, Ishikawa prefecture, Japan Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024. A major earthquake slammed western Japan on Jan. 1, killing scores of people, toppling buildings and setting off landslides. (Kyodo News via AP)

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Police officers use blue sheets as a woman in 90s is rescued alive from a collapsed house in Suzu, Ishikawa prefecture, Japan Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024, more than 120 hours after a series of powerful quakes started rattling Japan’s western coast. (Kyodo News via AP)

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A helicopter of the Japan Self-Defense Force prepares to land at a temporary landing site near buildings burned down in a fire after Monday’s deadly earthquake in Wajima in the Noto peninsula, facing the Sea of Japan, northwest of Tokyo, Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

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Rescuers halt a search operation due to a strong rain at the site of a landslide in Anamizu town, Ishikawa prefecture, Japan Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024. Monday’s temblor decimated houses, twisted and scarred roads and scattered boats like toys in the waters, and prompted tsunami warnings. (Kyodo News via AP)

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Members of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force load relief goods into its helicopter before taking off from a temporary landing site in Wajima in the Noto peninsula, facing the Sea of Japan, northwest of Tokyo, Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024, following Monday’s deadly earthquake. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

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A person walks through a street with debris of damaged and burnt buildings in Wajima in the Noto peninsula, facing the Sea of Japan, northwest of Tokyo, Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024, following Monday’s deadly earthquake. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

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Police officers huddle up before getting into a building at the premises of a temple to search for victims in Wajima in the Noto peninsula, facing the Sea of Japan, northwest of Tokyo, Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024, following Monday’s deadly earthquake. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

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People shop for food items at a supermarket that has offered some food and other items for 100 yen (about $U.S. 70 cents) for each, in Wajima in the Noto peninsula, facing the Sea of Japan, northwest of Tokyo, Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024, following Monday’s deadly earthquake. The sign, left, reads, “100 yen (about $U.S. 70 cents) for each item.” (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

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Damaged buildings are seen in Wajima in the Noto peninsula, facing the Sea of Japan, northwest of Tokyo, Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024, following Monday’s deadly earthquake. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

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Ambulances move through fallen rocks and landslides that hit the road in Wajima in the Noto peninsula, facing the Sea of Japan, northwest of Tokyo, Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024, following Monday’s deadly earthquake. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

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A woman, right, goes through a cashier as others shop for food, left, at a supermarket that has resumed its business with shorter hours after Monday’s earthquake, in Wajima in the Noto peninsula, facing the Sea of Japan, northwest of Tokyo, Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

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Police officers patrol an area to check houses in Wajima in the Noto peninsula, facing the Sea of Japan, northwest of Tokyo, Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024, following Monday’s deadly earthquake. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

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Members of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force carry bottled water to a helicopter before taking off from a temporary landing site in Wajima in the Noto peninsula, facing the Sea of Japan, northwest of Tokyo, Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024, following Monday’s deadly earthquake. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

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A man walks in front of a destroyed house in Suzu, Ishikawa prefecture, Japan Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024. A major earthquake slammed western Japan on Jan. 1, killing scores of people, toppling buildings and setting off landslides. (Kyodo News via AP)

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A person walks through the collapsed houses in Suzu, Ishikawa prefecture, Japan Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024. A major earthquake slammed western Japan on Jan. 1, killing scores of people, toppling buildings and setting off landslides. (Kyodo News via AP)

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Tulips are offered at a burnt-out house in Wajima, Ishikawa prefecture, Japan Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024. A major earthquake slammed western Japan on Jan. 1, killing scores of people, toppling buildings and setting off landslides. (Kyodo News via AP)

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Police officers conduct a search operation in a snow at a burnt market in Wajima, Ishikawa prefecture, Japan Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024. A major earthquake slammed western Japan on Jan. 1, killing scores of people, toppling buildings and setting off landslides. (Kyodo News via AP)

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Snow falls as a search operation is continued at a burnt market in Wajima, Ishikawa prefecture, Japan Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024. A major earthquake slammed western Japan on Jan. 1, killing scores of people, toppling buildings and setting off landslides. (Kyodo News via AP)

By HIRO KOMAE, AYAKA MCGILL and YURI KAGEYAMA

WAJIMA, Japan (AP) — A woman in her 90s was pulled alive from a collapsed house in western Japan late Saturday, 124 hours after a major quake slammed the region, killing at least 126 people, toppling buildings and setting off landslides.

The woman in Suzu city, Ishikawa Prefecture, had survived for more than five days after the 7.6 magnitude quake that hit the area Monday. Nationally broadcast news footage showed helmeted rescue workers covering the view of the area with blue plastic, and the woman was not visible.

Chances for survival diminish after the first 72 hours. Several other dramatic rescues have been reported over the past few days as soldiers, firefighters and others joined a widespread effort.

Among the 126 dead was a 5-year-old boy who had been recovering from injuries he suffered when boiling water spilled on him during Monday’s 7.6 magnitude earthquake. His condition suddenly worsened and he died Friday, according to Ishikawa prefecture, the hardest-hit region.

Aftershocks threatened to bury more homes and block roads crucial for relief shipments. Officials warned that roads already cracked could collapse completely. That risk was growing with rain and snow expected overnight and Sunday.

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Wajima city has recorded the highest number of deaths with 69, followed by Suzu with 38. More than 500 people were injured, at least 27 of them seriously.

The temblors left roofs sitting haplessly on roads and everything beneath them crushed flat. Roads were warped like rubber. A fire turned a neighborhood in Wajima to ashes.

More than 200 people were still unaccounted-for, although the number has fluctuated. Eleven people were reported trapped under two homes that collapsed in Anamizu.

For Shiro Kokuda, 76, the house in Wajima where he grew up was spared but a nearby temple went up in flames and he was still looking for his friends at evacuation centers.

“It’s been really tough,” he said.

Japan is one of the fastest-aging societies in the world. The population in Ishikawa and nearby areas has dwindled over the years. A fragile economy centered on crafts and tourism is now more imperiled than ever.

In an unusual gesture from nearby North Korea, leader Kim Jong Un sent a message of condolence to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the official Korean Central News Agency reported Saturday.

Japan received messages earlier expressing sympathy and promises of aid from United States President Joe Biden and other allies.

Japanese government spokesperson Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters that Japan was grateful for all the messages, including the one from North Korea. Hayashi said the last time Japan received a condolence message from North Korea for a disaster was in 1995.

Along Japan’s coastline, power was gradually being restored, but water supplies were still short. Emergency water systems were also damaged.

Thousands of troops were flying and trucking in water, food and medicine to the more than 30,000 people who had evacuated to auditoriums, schools and other facilities.

The nationally circulated Yomiuri newspaper reported that its aerial study had located more than 100 landslides in the area, some blocking lifeline roads. Some communities remained isolated and waiting for aid.

“I hope the city recovers, and I hope people won’t leave, and they stay here to work hard toward recovery,” said Seizo Shinbo, a seafood trader, who was stocking up on noodles, canned goods and rice balls at a supermarket.

“There is no food. There is no water. And the worst is gas. People are still in kilometer-long lines,” Shinbo said.

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Kageyama reported from Tokyo. Associated Press writer Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report.

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Yuri Kageyama is on X: https://twitter.com/yurikageyama