hello. nhk "newsline." i'm keiko kit gaa in tokyo. bracing for more. officials warn of the possibly of the quakes in south western japan, a week after the first strong earthquake shook the region. unexpected risks, evacuees stay in their cars. investigating a scandal with japan's mitsubishi motors.

a week after a strong earthquake hit south western japan, people are still struggling with the effects of the disaster. they have been experiencing frequent tremors since last thursday. the number has surpassed 750. officials warn there could still be more. rescue workers are searching for two missing people. 48 people are dead as a result of the quakes. at least ten others have died since then mainly due to the physical burden of living in evacuation shelters. more than 90,000 people are taking refuge there or this their cars. they are urging people to remain on the alert for strong earthquakes in the region. they're also advising people of the threat of landslides because of loosened soil. >> translator: there's a fear of

land slides because of heavy rain. stay on alert. authorities are advising residents to evacuate their homes. some services have restarted. >> i can now watch tv so i know what's going on. i feel calmer. >> many homes are still without water or gas. parts of highways and railways are still destructed. with so many people taking refuge in their cars, health experts are warning of a new threat that left one person dead. >> reporter: these vehicles are pa parked. the facility was damaged in the

quakes aftermath. problems. in medical terms it's called deep vein thrombosis. they are troubles. at least 20 people have been diagnosed with potentially deadly condition. it's just another thing to worry about for akiko. she moved from tokyo just one week before the quake. and knew she lives in her car with her husband, four children, and their dog. >> the car is very small for six people. physically he looks fine but emotionally of course they're

having a lot of stress because every time the cell phone rings with the alarms the earthquake alarms my twin girls are shaking and they cry so, yeah, of course they're suffering a lot and under stress. >> reporter: but she can get advice from a medical team. doctors and nurses are instructed on precautionary measures. they are examining people to check for blood clots and they're offering advice such as wearing compression stockings to help improve blood flow. >> translator: people should drink a lot of liquid to stay hydrated and they should move around, especially walking.

>> reporter: the medical team says not moving around could cause even more complications and result in a deterioration of body systems known as disuse syndrome. seniors are most at risk. health ministries have made leaflets. they encourage more activity as they try to avoid any more nhk world. >> prime minister shinzo abe says one of his top priorities is to make sure people have a comfortable place to rest. >> translator: we're sending ferries that can serve as emergency shelters. the ships will accommodate people and provide meals and baths. >> abe says the government will

provide food and other essentials from money drawn from the reserve budget. the mayor has been investigating the castle. they viewed the landmark for the first time since the earthquakes. the castle is one of japan's most famous and icon of the city. it'sing designated a special historic site. all of the castle's 13 buildings incurred serious damage in last thursday's quake. one of the turrets collapsed. >> translator: the scale of the destruction left me speechless. i'm worried that anymore tremors will make it even worse. >> researchers from university sent a drone to survey the damage. they believe the weight of the tower may have contributed to the collapse of the ramparts. it was rebuilt in 1960 using

reenforced concrete and several times heavier than the original. executives at mitsubishi are shedding light on a fuel data scandal. all were manufactured in japan after june 2013. >> mitsubishi motors president said people at nissan noticed problems between the test data and fuel efficiency. the numbers were 5 to 10% worse than what mitsubishi submitted to the government. >> translator: i believe the data was intentionally falsified to show favorable results.

i'm not sure of the reasons behind the misconduct. >> he added the official in charge of the test at the time has admitted the wrong doing. he said the company will consider recompensing fuel costs to customers. the executives disclosed that other models of the japanese market were tested in ways that differed from government regulations but they don't know which models and how many vehicles are affected. officials say they will set up an outside panel of experts to look into the manner and release the findings soon possible. the automaker fell into a crisis after defects came to light in 2000. they started inspections at the technical center in central japan as par of the its probe into the latest data rigging. the scandal is drawing a lot of

attention from overseas. the wall street journal mentioned the past misconduct including recall cover ups in 2000. it calls it the latest self- self-inflicted wound by an automaker with a history of scandal. the bbc describes it as another nail in the coffin to the already damaged reputation. it's the latest blow for japan after the scandal caused by takata's air bags. the average managed to end higher. we'll see how tokyo markets are opening today. for that we go to ramin who is standing by. what are you seeing at the open? >> thank you. good morning. definitely we did see mitsubishi motor shares fall sharply.

overall, sentiment was still upbeat for the nikkei. let's see if that positive momentum is continuing today, thursday, april 21st. the nikkei managed to close higher on wednesday. the stock fell more than 17% marking the biggest one day drop in almost 12 years. a lot of other makers are in focus today as they attempt to resume operations affected by the recent earthquakes.

turning our eyes to overseas market. let's get a rundown of how wall street ended. dow jones rising 0.24%. nasdaq gaining 0.16%. there's still a little bit of hesitancy for any major move higher because of a sharp fall in china markets. that decline to the lowest level in more than three weeks. now the marks in china will open in about an hour and a half. i'll keep check of those. looking markets open right now across asia pacific, seoul's kospi is up half a percent. the dollar did rise a touch. whether it any new measures will

be added to current monetary policy. also focus on commodities and the performance of mod commodit linked emerging stocks. we'll keep track of that. as i said that china markets open in an hour and a half. lot of stocks heavily linked to the china's economy will track those as well. back to you. thank you for that report, ramin. the people at one of china's biggest web companies are expanding their horizons. they're trying to capture a slice of the growing market with >> reporter: they are moved beyond guides books opinion they use their smart phone. back home they would be using

baidu. firm began offering a japanese map in february. before launch it was completely blank. developers had to add over 130,000 location names. the map now shows major points of interest if chinese. users can get detailed information including many suggestions. the company hopes the service will generate commissions and advertising revenue. he's in charge of the japanese mapping service. >> translator: i hope to make the site platform from which people in japan and china can communicate. >> reporter: the first estimates that only about 20% of the chinese visitors use the mapping service, far fewer than the number who use it back home.

managers this beijing took up the issue this february. >> there are lots of less known tourist spots and independently operated restaurants. it would be ideal if we could add information about them on our japanese map. >> reporter: many streets are lined with small restaurants and souvenir shops. many appear on the map. he asked chinese visitors what they like about the service. >> translator: it now offers

japanese map. were you ware of that? >> no. i use google. >> translator: it would be more useful if it included information about restaurants and public toilets. >> reporter: he visited a store that's seen a huge increase in the number of chinese customers. the manager hopes that the mapping service will help them attract even more. >> translator: the map increased the number who visit the store on purpose rather than just dropping by. >> reporter: he envisions another goal as well. >> translator: i'm hoping that the map will bring about new encounters between japan and china. >> reporter: he's betting that new service will help japanese businesses plot a course toward a more profitable future.

nhk world. >> here are the latest market figures. russian president putin has said he'll meet with japanese prime minister abe on may 6th in the southern russian city of sochi. putin discussed the plan at a ceremony to receive letters of credentials from newly arrived foreign ambassadors in moscow. one of the ambassadors is from japan. putin said promotion of dialogue with japan in various areas is one of the priorities in russian

foreign policies. >> translator: i hope japanese prime minister shinzo abe's visit will contribute to the development of mutually beneficial bilateral relationship between the two countries. japanese foreign minister fumio can i shia and his russian counterpart sergei lavrov met in tokyo and agreed to hold working level talks on signing a peace treaty after the summit. the negotiations on the treaty will seek to find a mutually acceptable solution for the territorial dispute over four islands that japanese call the northern territories. a day earlier putin told reporters he and abe will discuss all issues. he said the two countries will be able to reach a compromise on

the islands someday. in india's northern state, rescuers are trying to pull people from the rubble of a collapsed building. it happened in early hours of wednesday. police and firefighters launched a rescue operation. >> translator: i was inside my house when suddenly i heard people screaming. the building had collapsed. people were lying underneath the debris. >> last month in calcutta, a highway overpass that was being built collapsed, killing dozens of people. in 2013, at least 74 people were killed when a building under construction collapsed in the western city of mumbai. as many as 500 are feared

dead from a capsizing of a boat last week in the mediterranean sea. >> a team has interviewed 41 survivors of an incident in the mediterranean where as many as 500 people might have lost their lives. >> the refugee agency quoted the survivors as saying they left a town in libya on a smuggler's boat. the smugglers then attempted to transfer the passengers to a larger ship already carrying hundreds of people, but it cap sized and sank. >> they were shouting for help but no one can help because every one of us wanted to save his life only. >> in april last year, only 800 about 800 people died in similar circumstances. the international organization for migration says about 25,000 refugees and migrants have crossed the mediterranean and

reached italy so far this year. as the death toll from the syrian civil war continues to climb had has left an estimated 800,000 children orphaned or split from their parents. many now live as refugees in neighboring countries and conditions are desperate. nhk world has this report. >> reporter: shining shoes and selling food around the refugee camps in lebanon. this girl has lived here for two years. she lost her father in an air raid and her mother died of illness. her grandmother and uncle take care of her. >> translator: i'm sad i lost my

parents. >> reporter: the family used to get by thanks to her grandmother's earnings of around $4 a day. but her health is failing and now she's unable to work. so they are living on charity handouts of about $80 a month. >> translator: we're trying to survive but we have nothing. >> reporter: now all they can do is beg in the streets. >> translator: i wish the war would end. i want to go back home. >> reporter: some people are working to help children in need. the shelter in northern lebanon is run by a syrian ngo. it houses about 90 children aged 3 to 14. this girl's father was killed in an air raid. she lost tough with her mott as they moved from place to place

to escape the fighting. >> translator: my aunt went looking for my father and they found him dead. i cry whenever i see his picture. >> reporter: when she arrived, she would draw dark pictures reflecting her drama. but living with other children from similar backgrounds has helped her to open her heart. >> translator: i want to return to syria. i want to become a doctor so i can help people. >> reporter: refugees continue to stream out of syria but ngos are finding it more and more difficult to receive aid from the international community. this facility has stopped accepting more children. >> translator: the biggest

problem is no funding. we can't take in anymore. we feel so powerless. >> reporter: with little likelihood of peace in the near future, the fighting in syria continues to take a heavy toll on children. it's time for a check of the weather. joining us is our meteorologist robert speta. people here are seeing gray skies today. robert, give us the outlook. >> most of japan is going to be looking at widespread precipitation, already cloudy skies working in. by the afternoon hours, expect it to change over to widespread precipitation. we have the showers working their way in across much of western japan. even into shikoku, and also across mo of kyushu. in total about 100 to 150 millimeters.

this is definitely very important, but we have ongoing earthquakes out here across kumamoto prefecture and there's definitely a threat of landslides and flooding. a really serious situation. back on saturday a similar incident took place. good news, it should tape off off into the evening hours, by saturday, another round of showers will push through. not as heavy, but still bringing some passing rainfall. in tokyo, things should clear up by friday afternoon, a high of 26 out there, and also want to make note, look at your four-day outlook. rain every sing the day. maybe into next we're we're

still expecting more rainfall. so i would not be surprised if we see the official start of the rainy season in the southern japanese islands. ic backwards of west there into taiwan and into southern china, already seeing that front continue to set up showers expected there in taipei, also towards hong kong. let's move over to the americas. here into central locations, especially down towards the south of the u.s., for those of you out here, you really have been seeing the precipitation. more showers are expected as we go into your wednesday night and thursday. really if you're out here, you want to be watching this, but i want to take your attention into houston. but there still is ongoing flooding. as we look at this video, rescue efforts are still ongoing out here, where at least eight people have died. 1100 homes have been damaged. this is definitely april record that was set there at one locations, where up on over 200 millimeters fell. actually in just a week's time, there was areas seen over -- just outside of the houston airport.

still flood advisories are in place, where in addition about 150 millimeters is expecting. you see the banding continue to linger. you have a block set up here, and what that meanly means is this weather system is not going anywhere very fast. some more precipitation expected out there for those of you. at the very least, we are looking at some above-average temperatures up and down the eastern seaboards, but that should be eventually changing up as well. at least back towards the north, though, into parts of new finland and quebec, some windy conditions and winter weather advisories out there. i do want to talk about this storm system, more on this later on, but the iberian peninsula, widespread rain showers out there, temperatures are above average and sunny skies, once that moves through, it will be cooling down with weather by the weekend. i leave you now with your extended outlook.

that wraps up this edition of nhk "newsline." i'm keiko kitagawa in tokyo. thank you for joining us.

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