18,000 still in temporary housing 2 years after Noto quake
Over 18,000 people are still living in temporary housing two years after a massive earthquake in the Noto Peninsula of Ishikawa Prefecture in central Japan left about 700 people dead or unaccounted for, Kyodo reports.
While infrastructure restoration is progressing in areas hit by the Jan. 1, 2024, earthquake, the road to reconstruction remains bumpy due to issues such as population outflow and aging.
The number of people who died from direct causes of the earthquake and the number of missing people remained unchanged from a year earlier at 228 and two, respectively.
The number of deaths from indirect causes, such as deterioration of physical condition during evacuation, rose by 194 over the past year to 470, including people who died in Niigata and Toyama prefectures, which were also severely affected by the earthquake.
In the Okunoto coastal area, which was also damaged by heavy rain in September 2024, emergency road repairs have almost been completed. Evacuation centers have been closed, and the publicly funded demolition of houses completely destroyed in the disasters has been completed for 98 pct of applications made in Ishikawa as a whole.
