Japan thanks Taiwan for earthquake donation pledge

Taipei, Jan. 5 (CNA) Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has expressed gratitude for the support offered by the international community following the magnitude 7.6 earthquake that hit central Japan on New Year's Day, and mentioned Taiwan's pledged donation.

"We have received numerous messages of sympathy and offers of support from dozens of countries, regions, organizations, and individuals around the world, including the United States, other G7 countries, China, and Taiwan," Kishida said on social media Thursday.

"Taiwan, for example, has announced a donation of 60 million [Japanese] yen," the prime minister said, adding that "once again, we would like to express our gratitude for the many offers of support we have received from all over the world."

Kishida was referring to the donation pledged by Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs earlier Thursday.

Meanwhile, a designated account set up by the Ministry of Health and Welfare has begun to accept private donations to Japan starting Friday.

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) took to social media on Friday to express hope that "everyone in the disaster-stricken areas can return to their normal lives as soon as possible."

"Taiwan and Japan have always extended a helping hand to each other, like families, when they needed it," Tsai said of the pledged donation, noting that "a Japanese emergency is a Taiwanese emergency."

Japanese authorities are still racing against time to find survivors from the earthquake that rocked the Noto Peninsula in the central prefecture of Ishikawa at a depth of 10 kilometers at 4:10 p.m. Monday.

As of Thursday night, at least 84 people had been killed and 179 others remained unaccounted for, according to the authorities.

The earthquake, which also triggered tsunami alerts as far away as eastern Russia, has damaged more than 200 houses and displaced around 34,000 residents, the authorities said.