Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida says the cabinet will approve the use of its reserved funds to cover damages from this week’s massive earthquake in its west.
In a statement today, Kishida said the cabinet will meet next Tuesday, to double the roughly 2 billion yen deployed in each of similar past disasters, from earthquakes to heavy rains, while ordering the deployment of more defense forces to aid the rescue operations in the worst hit region
The Prime Minister had earlier stated that 150 people had been rescued so far, and that rescuers would continue with their full-scale efforts before the critical 72 hours of the disaster passes.
The tremor on Monday, which was followed by a series of aftershocks, injured at least 330 people, while more than 30,000 people in the quake-affected areas are still in shelters, with some towns lacking water, electricity and internet connection.
