Dear Prayer Partners,

Many of you have followed the news about the earthquake in the Niigata area of Japan. Please pray for the survivors' physical, emotional, and spiritual needs to be met. Pray for the volunteers who are helping out. Pray that God's children will share the hope that is within them, Jesus Christ. Pray for new Christian believers and new churches to form as a result of this great group of witnesses. Pray that Niigata prefecture will be transformed by the power of God's love.

Thank you for praying, Karol Whaley for Free Japan

"My soul waits in silence for God only; from Him is my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken." Psalm 62:1

Death toll from Japan quakes rises

Bullet train derails; roads ripped apart

Tuesday, October 26, 2004 Posted: 12:23 AM EDT (0423 GMT)

TOKYO, Japan - The death toll from weekend earthquakes in northern Japan has risen to 25, with more than 1,200 others reported injured, authorities reported.

Three earthquakes with magnitudes ranging from 5.9 to 6.8 struck Saturday evening in Niigata prefecture, about 250 kilometes (150 miles) north of Tokyo.

A strong aftershock rattled the area early Monday, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries from the magnitude 5.7 tremor.

The death toll was revised after searchers dug into the rubble of collapsed buildings and found more people dead, authorities in Niigata prefecture said.

Later in the day, the said no other people were missing.

More than 1,400 buildings were destroyed in the Saturday's quakes, which caused blackouts, ruptured water mains and collapsed houses around the region.

Hospitals also suffered from blackouts and personnel in those facilities had to remove some of the patients to the outside, local media reports said.

Television pictures showed hundreds of people crammed together under covers and coats in one shelter.

Many complained that they had little or no food, as they waited for supplies to reach the mountainous area, some parts of which have been cut off by landslides, NHK said.

Other residents have begun salvaging belongings from their flattened homes, as hundreds of people suffering injuries overwhelmed local hospitals, which were also suffering from blackouts.

"After the first earthquake, I ran to my shop," one woman said.

"Then the next one hit and I was clinging to a pillar. I ran out with nothing in my hands. All I have left is what I am wearing now."

The earthquakes were strong enough to sway skyscrapers in Tokyo for about a minute.

The first of three temblors was a 6.8-magnitude quake centered in Ojiya. It rocked the area on Saturday evening, knocking a bullet train from its rails and ripping through roadways.

Several strong quakes followed through the night, and aftershocks continued to jolt the area.

The bullet train derailment was the first since such trains began running in Japan in 1964.

A second-floor supermarket collapsed as it was busy with customers.

"There were 300 customers inside when the earthquake hit, and everyone tried to grab something nearby to keep from being knocked off their feet," store manager Reiko Takahashi was quoted by The Associated Press as saying.

Takejiro Hoshino, 75, lost his 12-year-old grandson when their house collapsed.

"I got out and then we all went back to try to save the others, but it was too late," Hoshino said.

Across the state, 61,000 people were evacuated to emergency shelters and in Ojiya, 5,290 people took refuge at 50 different evacuation centers, AP quoted an official as saying.

The temblors came just days after Japan's deadliest typhoon in more than a decade, which left 78 people dead and a dozens missing.

Saturday's temblors caused mudslides in areas where the storm's torrential rains had loosened the ground.

Japan is among the world's most earthquake-prone countries.