WAJIMA, Japan:  Japan plans to accept a US relief team but no aid from other regions or countries for now, the daily Nikkei reported on Friday, four days after an earthquake killed 92 people and forced the evacuation of thousands in the country’s west.

The US and Japan are discussing how and when the US Forces would coordinate with Japan’s Self-Defence Forces on disaster relief efforts in and around the Noto peninsula, the Nikkei report said.

“We are not accepting any personnel or material aid from other countries or regions at the moment given the situation on the ground and the effort that would be required to receive them,” Japan’s top spokesperson HAYASHI Yoshimasa said on Friday.

He added that he would not comment on what discussions have taken place with the US.

A US official who declined to be named told Reuters details were not yet decided, but both governments were coordinating on possible assistance from US troops.

About 54,000 US forces personnel are based in Japan, the biggest US military presence abroad, according to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

Japanese Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio said there were offers for help and messages of condolence from governments including Taiwan and China.

The full extent of casualties and damage from the earthquake that struck on New Year’s Day remains unclear, with rescue teams struggling to reach hard-hit areas due to severed roads and damaged infrastructure.

But with more than 200 people still unaccounted for, the disaster is likely the deadliest since 2016 and could be the worst since a massive earthquake and tsunami struck the east coast of Japan in 2011.

US armed forces were deeply involved in disaster relief efforts in the 2011 earthquake, providing over 24,000 personnel with 24 ships and 189 aircraft.

“We may receive assistance in the future, but nothing has been decided at this time,” a spokesperson for Japan’s Ministry of Defence told Reuters on Friday.

TSUNAMI DAMAGE

At least 120 hectares (296 acres) of land also appears to be flooded from a tsunami triggered by the earthquake, according to Japan’s land ministry.

“We still don’t have a full picture, and it’s likely that the area flooded by the tsunami could spread,” an unnamed land ministry official said to the daily Asahi newspaper.

A preliminary probe led by researchers at the University of Tokyo estimated that the highest point of the tsunami on the western coast of the peninsula could have reached up to 4.2 meters (14 ft) above normal sea level.

The first wave of the tsunami may have reached the northern-most tip of the Noto peninsula only a minute after the earthquake struck, leaving barely any time for residents to evacuate, the daily Yomiuri said citing an analysis by Tohoku University.

Details of the tsunami had been unclear as the tide gauge stopped emitting data immediately after the initial quake, the report said.

Japan’s Coast Guard said it was searching one missing person who was washed away by tsunami in Suzu city, the first known potential casualty from the tsunami so far.

Reuters