Miracle rescue: 90-year-old woman emerges alive from Japan earthquake rubble after five days

Rescue teams in Suzu City, Ishikawa prefecture, Japan, pulled a woman in her 90s from the debris of a two-story house over five days after a powerful earthquake struck the region, CNN reported. 

Discovered on Saturday evening, 124 hours after the quake hit, the elderly woman was taken to a nearby hospital.

Kume Takanori, a member of the emergency rescue team, shared that the woman's knees were trapped under furniture in a narrow space between the first and second floor. The intricate rescue operation took hours but resulted in the woman's successful extraction. While she is well enough for conversations, her legs sustained injuries, as revealed by a doctor on Sunday.

The 7.5 magnitude earthquake on January 1 triggered tsunami alerts across a wide area, leading to evacuations in coastal regions. Buildings and roads collapsed, and fires engulfed many structures. The current death toll stands at a minimum of 126, with over 200 people still unaccounted for.

The critical "golden period" for search and rescue efforts in the aftermath of a natural disaster spans the first 72 hours. Beyond this timeframe, the conditions of those trapped can deteriorate rapidly. Despite the challenges posed by blocked roads hindering emergency response, search and rescue operations persist in Ishikawa.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida addressed the ongoing difficulties in a statement on X, announcing traffic restrictions around the earthquake zone from Sunday. These measures aim to facilitate the passage of disaster recovery-related vehicles by barring general traffic from the affected areas.

As the race against time continues, the rescue teams remain dedicated to uncovering the full extent of the damage and locating those still missing. The survival of the woman in her 90s serves as a testament to the resilience and determination of the search and rescue efforts amid the aftermath of the earthquake.