After Japan quake, woman dies of apparent heat stroke sheltering in car
A woman in her 70s died of heat stroke while sheltering in a car following a 7.1 magnitude earthquake in Kumamoto, Japan. Authorities are struggling with extreme heat, fuel shortages, and inadequate shelter conditions for thousands of displaced residents.
Why it matters
This highlights the secondary humanitarian risks, such as extreme weather and infrastructure failure, that follow major natural disasters.
A woman who developed heat stroke while taking shelter in a car is the latest fatality related to a powerful earthquake that struck Japan’s southwestern prefecture of Kumamoto last week, officials said Sunday as concerns over heat-related illnesses grow in an area that is suffering extreme temperatures. The woman in her 70s with apparent heat stroke was found in a car, Kumamoto officials said, as they raised the death toll from the quake to 36. The magnitude 7.1 hit Kumamoto prefecture on Japan’s southern main island of Kyushu on Tuesday. This latest death was what officials and experts had worried about amid high temperatures. Kumamoto authorities were to start delivering leaflets to those taking shelter in their cars, urging them to stay in cool places, drink enough liquids and regularly exercise to avoid blood-clotting risks.
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