New Tremors Jolt Northern Japan

New tremors rocked northern Japan on Wednesday as hope dwindled for finding survivors from the country’s most devastating earthquake in decades. At least 103 bodies have been found and 91 people were missing.

The final death count could rival--or even exceed--a 1960 quake that claimed 142 lives in tsunami waves created by a huge quake in Chile. No Japan-centered temblor has been deadlier since 1952, when 8,233 were killed in a quake with a magnitude of 8.2.

“I give up,” said Sasaki Ikuji, 52, a construction worker whose house was spared. “I’ve been through many of these before, but this is the worst. . . . I’m thinking about moving away.”

Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa toured the hardest-hit areas as soldiers, divers and residents pressed the search along northern coasts. He called it “extremely painful” and vowed government aid.

Officials have recorded more than 70 aftershocks since Monday’s quake. One measured 6.3.

The initial 7.8 quake generated giant waves, fires and landslides that devastated fishing villages on this Sea of Japan island, where most of the casualties occurred. The earthquake was centered 30 miles under the Sea of Japan, about 50 miles west of Hokkaido.