90-Year-Old Woman Rescued 124 Hours After Earthquake... Survived by Drinking Rainwater

90-Year-Old Woman, 'Miraculous Survival' Despite Missing the Golden Hour

A woman in her 90s miraculously survived in a collapsed house 124 hours after a strong earthquake struck the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture, central Honshu, Japan. Local media speculated that she endured by drinking rainwater that had flowed in.

On the 8th, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported the story of Ms. A, a woman in her 90s, who was rescued on the sixth day after the earthquake, on the 6th, from a collapsed building in Suzu City, Ishikawa Prefecture. Ms. A was trapped under a main beam on the first floor of the house that had collapsed due to the strong earthquake, waiting for rescue. The police rescue team conducting the search discovered Ms. A’s left leg caught between the main beams through a small gap several tens of centimeters wide in the collapsed house. Firefighters were dispatched after a police support request. The police removed debris from the upper body area, while the firefighters cleared debris from the lower body area one by one.

On the 4th, police watched rescue operations in the shopping district of Wajima City, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, which was devastated by a magnitude 7.6 earthquake.
[Image source=AFP Yonhap News]

A doctor from the Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) reported that when they arrived at the scene, Ms. A’s left arm and upper body were barely visible, and faint groans could be heard. The doctor said, “When I held Ms. A’s hand, she responded, and I felt she might survive.” The doctor administered an intravenous drip to Ms. A while waiting for her physical strength to recover, as sudden removal of debris could cause a rapid change in her condition. The rescue team and medical staff encouraged Ms. A with words like “Stay strong” throughout the rescue.

Ms. A was rescued after more than five days since the earthquake and was transported to a hospital for treatment. Although she had injuries on her feet, she recovered enough to converse by the morning of the 7th, the day after the rescue. However, another woman in her 40s found with her was reported to have died.

Snow is falling as Japanese rescue workers conduct search operations around the burned market in Wajima City, Ishikawa Prefecture on the 7th.
[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

Japanese media described Ms. A’s survival beyond the “golden time” of 72 hours for life rescue as an “extremely rare case.” Japan regards 72 hours as the golden time for earthquake rescues based on experiences from the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake, where victims rescued after 72 hours suffered from dehydration, hypothermia, and other issues, significantly lowering survival rates. The rescue workers and doctors who saved Ms. A said there was space inside the collapsed building for her body, and that she likely survived by drinking rainwater.

Dr. Mototaka Inaba, a DMAT physician, said, “If a small amount of moisture and a certain body temperature are maintained, survival beyond 72 hours is possible,” and speculated, “Perhaps she drank rainwater that flowed through gaps in the debris.” As of the morning of the 8th, the death toll in Ishikawa Prefecture due to the Noto earthquake was reported to be 128. However, the number of residents listed as “missing” by Ishikawa Prefecture reached 195, so the death toll is expected to rise further.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.