The Noto region in Japan’s Ishikawa province is suffering from severe water and food shortages after the 7.6 magnitude earthquake on January 1, causing significant damage to important infrastructure. claimed the lives of at least 95 people, with the number of people reported missing reaching more than 200 people.
According to Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, about 90,000 households in Ishikawa, Toyama and Niigata prefectures had water supply interrupted. The most essential need today of people in the earthquake zone is clean water because the water supply system was damaged, and as of January 5, it had not been restored.
A Noto resident said: “An hour after the earthquake, a tsunami occurred and swept many ships ashore. At that time, the road was completely flooded, the water was about 1 meter deep. Currently, the power source has been restored, but the most difficult problem right now is the lack of water.”
Towns across the Noto Peninsula are struggling to access limited water and food supplies, with disrupted communication services making the situation worse.
“The main problem is there is no water. Water is needed for cooking. Some water supplies started to arrive gradually. However, there was no mobile phone signal so communication was more or less interrupted. Our family has many children, so it is very difficult to get food and water for the children right now. Up to this point, I have not received any relief goods at all, I still use what I have at home. I have no access to relief goods, and there is a serious lack of water. I have gone everywhere, looking for ways to get some water. Due to the lack of water, I even limit the use of the toilet. It’s really inconvenient,” one resident shared.
A few days after the earthquake caused heavy damage to people and property, Japanese companies in the affected area rushed to resume production activities. Meanwhile, Japan also doubled the Self-Defense Force’s manpower to participate in earthquake rescue operations in the Noto region to nearly 5,000 people.
According to NHK Television, the Japanese Government plans to spend part of its reserve budget to increase the supply of relief goods to areas damaged by the earthquake that occurred on January 1. It is expected that next week, the Japanese Cabinet will approve this plan, which will spend about 4 billion yen (more than 27 million USD) from the reserve budget in the fiscal year ending in March 2024. The Japanese government also plans to appropriate the proposed reserve budget for the next fiscal year to support efforts to overcome earthquake damage. In addition, search and rescue activities are still actively deployed by the Japanese government even though 72 “golden” hours have passed in the rescue effort after the disaster.