Noto Peninsula Earthquake

Volunteers Gather in Nanao, Anamizu and Shika; Cleaning up After Japan Quake

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:38 JST, January 29, 2024

Seventy-nine volunteers from across the country arrived on Sunday in Nanao, Anamizu and Shika in Ishikawa Prefecture, which are areas severely damaged by the Noto Peninsula Earthquake. They are engaged in restoration work, such as clearing away waste from houses damaged in the disaster.

As of Saturday, 15,300 people had registered as volunteers with Ishikawa Prefecture. When the prefectural government asked for registered volunteers to work in Nanao, Anamizu and Shika for a week starting Saturday, the number of applicants reached its limit of 560 people in three minutes. The prefectural government will accept new applications for volunteers who can participate the activities which will start from February 3.

Because of the limited accommodation facilities available in the affected areas due to the water outage, volunteers are transported by buses provided by the prefectural government from Kanazawa for day trips to the affected areas.

The cities of Suzu and Wajima in the Okunoto area, where the damage is especially severe, have not yet been able to accept volunteers due to the lack of progress in surveying the needs of disaster victims.