US forces deliver aid to areas hit by earthquakes in Japan

Associated Press

MINAMIASO, Japan

About 100,000 evacuees, some sleeping outdoors or in their cars, endured chilly weather today and another large aftershock as the death toll from Japan’s twin earthquakes rose to 44.

Searchers digging through landslide and building debris in a mountainous area found two bodies Monday. At least one appeared to be among the nine reported missing, according to Japanese media reports.

After daybreak today, Japanese broadcaster NHK showed people squatting at the curbside outside an evacuation center to brush their teeth with water coming out of a green garden hose.

Food and water shortages are plaguing the recovery effort, even as the search for the missing goes on in the mountain town of Minamiaso.

U.S. airlifts delivered water, bread, ready-to-eat food and other emergency supplies to a the remote area of southern Japan stricken by the two powerful earthquakes.

Authorities said at least 44 people died and about 1,100 were injured in the quakes Thursday and early Saturday. An aftershock with magnitude 5.8 hit the area Monday evening but no further injuries were reported.

The flights by two MV-22 Ospreys were a gesture of cooperation between the two allies and a chance for the U.S. military to demonstrate the utility of the tilt-rotor aircraft, whose deployment has raised controversy in Japan due to safety concerns.

Limited flights also resumed to Kumamoto Airport today, but outbound flights remain suspended because the terminal building is too damaged to handle security checks.