Scenes of loss play out across Japan’s western coastline after quake kills 78, dozens still missing

His face hidden under a humble straw hat, the man stood silent, watching several helmeted rescue workers carefully lift his wife's body from the rubble, wrapped in blue plastic on a stretcher. This scene in the city of Suzu was tragically repeated across Ishikawa Prefecture and nearby regions on the western coastline of Japan after Monday’s 7.6 magnitude temblor that decimated houses, twisted and scarred roads and scattered boats like toys in the waters, and prompted tsunami warnings. Ishikawa officials said 44 of those who died were in the city of Wajima and 23 were in Suzu.