Japan quake victim dies of heatstroke while sheltering in car amid ‘extreme heat’ warning
An elderly woman has died from heatstroke while sheltering in her car following the recent magnitude 7.1 earthquake in Kumamoto, Japan. Authorities are struggling to provide adequate relief as extreme temperatures exacerbate the humanitarian crisis for thousands of displaced residents.
Why it matters
It highlights the compounding risks of natural disasters when extreme weather events occur simultaneously, complicating emergency response and public health efforts.
An elderly woman who developed heatstroke while taking shelter in a car was the latest fatality from a powerful earthquake that struck Japan’s southwestern prefecture of Kumamoto last week, officials said on Sunday as concerns over heat-related illnesses grow in an area that is also suffering extreme temperatures.
The woman in her seventies with heatstroke 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 and take sufficient liquids, and regularly take exercise to avoid blood clotting risks.
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