A woman in her 80s is rescued from her half-crumbled house in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, where she was trapped for more than 72 hours after the New Year’s Day earthquake. (Video provided by the Osaka Municipal Fire Department)

Photo/Illutration A woman is rescued from her home in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, where she was trapped for more than 72 hours after the Jan. 1 earthquake. (Provided by the Osaka Municipal Fire Department)

OSAKA--A woman in her 80s who was trapped for three days after a powerful earthquake in Ishikawa Prefecture beat the survival window for victims when she was found on Jan. 4, giving hope for those looking for others who remain missing. 

The woman was listed in stable condition when she was pulled from the rubble of her partially collapsed home in the city of Wajima at 4:28 p.m., according to the Osaka Municipal Fire Department, whose members were part of the rescue team. 

The rescue came 72 hours and 18 minutes after the magnitude-7.6 temblor struck the Noto Peninsula on Jan. 1. Experts say the prospects for the survival of trapped victims significantly fall 72 hours after a disaster.

According to the fire department, firefighters from Osaka Prefecture sensed the presence of a person inside a two-story house whose first floor was completely collapsed when they were searching for survivors in Wajima on Jan. 4.

The rescuers spotted the woman trapped beneath the house and pulled her up while encouraging her by saying, “Almost there” and “Hang in there,” in the Kansai dialect, according to a video recorded by the fire department.

The woman responded to their calls during the rescue operation.

She was wrapped in a blanket, carried away on a stretcher and transported to a hospital.

Ninety-two deaths were confirmed from the New Year’s Day earthquake as of 8 a.m. on Jan. 5, including 55 in Wajima.

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