Georgian Ambassador to Japan: no Georgian citizens injured in deadly earthquake

Teimuraz Lezhava, the Georgian Ambassador to Japan, on Wednesday said no Georgian citizens had been injured in the deadly earthquake that hit the country on Monday and extended his condolences to the Japanese people following the disaster. 

Lezhava urged Georgian nationals to use the Embassy hotline if they needed assistance in the aftermath of the quake. 

There are no Georgians living in the region [hit by the earthquake], although [...] it is quite a rich region, and I would not rule out that there might have been Georgians travelling there”, he said of the Ishikawa prefecture on the west coast of the main Honshu island that was hit the hardest.

“We have been able to verify the situation with Georgian citizens through all our channels and, to our knowledge, no one is there yet [...] Of course, we have opened a hotline and any citizen will be able to contact us regarding any need”, the diplomat also noted.

I have already expressed my condolences to the Japanese Government, to the Japanese people. It is a very sad fact that this happened”, Lezhava added.

The Georgian Ambassador was travelling with his family by train in the disaster area at the time the earthquake hit, causing rail operations to be suspended and the passengers to spend the night in a station.

The death toll from the 7.6 magnitude earthquake that struck the country on the first day of the new year rose to 64 on Wednesday.