A landslide destroys about 10 homes and other structures in the Nishime district of Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture, early Dec. 31. (Video footage by Teruto Unuma and Kazuhiro Ichikawa)

Photo/Illutration A landslide in the Nishime district of Tsuruoka, Yamagata, damages about 10 structures. (Nobuo Fujiwara)

TSURUOKA, Yamagata Prefecture--Two residents were missing after a landslide destroyed or damaged 10 or so buildings, triggering a massive rescue effort by police, firefighters and Self-Defense Forces personnel.

The local fire department received an emergency call after midnight on Dec. 30 about homes destroyed by a landslide in the Nishime district.

A mountain slope at least 100 meters wide and between 20 and 30 meters high broke loose and engulfed a small community of eight households, destroying at least 10 homes and other structures, according to local police and fire officials.

A woman in her 70s and her husband in his 80s living in the hamlet could not be contacted.

Two other elderly residents were rescued with minor injuries from their home, which was damaged by the landslide.

Police and fire fighters were frantically searching for other possible victims.

According to Tsuruoka city government officials, an evacuation order had been issued for 22 people living in eight households in the Nishime district, prompting 14 residents to evacuate to a nearby community center.

The Yamagata prefectural government asked a local SDF base to provide rescue support and SDF members were dispatched to search for survivors on Dec. 31.

Yamagata Governor Mieko Yoshimura promptly designated Tsuruoka as subject to coverage under the Disaster Relief Law.

Local residents had noticed water seeping out recently from the side of a slope that collapsed.

A 79-year-old man who lives in a nearby community noted that the red clay in the area was vulnerable to landslides.

(This article was written by Teruto Unuma, Daisuke Tsujioka and Keitaro Fukuchi.)

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