Half of temporary housing for Noto quake survivors completed

Four months after the Noto Peninsula Earthquake, more than half the temporary housing units for survivors have been completed. There has also been progress in restoring running water and roads in the peninsula region of Ishikawa Prefecture, which was devastated by the quake.

All the temporary housing units needed are expected to be completed by this summer. With Wednesday marking four months since the Jan. 1 quake, people in disaster-hit areas are shifting to a reconstruction phase aimed at restoring normal daily life.

Running water to up to 110,000 households in Ishikawa Prefecture was cut off after the quake, but day by day services have been restored to a growing area. As of Tuesday, there were 3,780 households to which running water had not been restored.

Work to reopen roads is also progressing on the Noto Satoyama Kaido highway, which stretches to the northern part of the prefecture, and on prefectural roads along coasts of the peninsula.

The number of evacuees peaked at 34,173 but has since fallen to 4,606, including people who live in accommoda

tion facilities after moving from temporary evacuation sites.

Of 6,421 urgently needed temporary housing units, more than half have been completed. Local authorities said all those who want to move into the temporary facilities will likely be able to do

so by the end of August.

The death toll from the disaster has reached 245. Of this number, 15 are suspected to have died from causes indirectly related to the disaster.

National Highway Route 249, the main road on the Noto Peninsula, was cut off by a landslide caused by the earthquake. Restoration work has been completed on a section along the coast in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, and the road was set to open at noon on Thursday, with a detour created by taking advantage of seabed uplifted by the earthquake.

Yomiuri Shimbun photos Temporary wooden houses for survivors of the Noto Peninsula Earthquake are seen in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on April 30. A detour on National Highway Route 249, built on the seabed where the Noto Peninsula Earthquake caused it to rise, is seen in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on May 1.