Japan Govt, SDF Respond to Noto Peninsula Earthquake Disaster; 10,000 Members of Self-Defense Forces Mobilized

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:00 JST, January 2, 2024

The government’s special disaster management headquarters led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held a meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office on Tuesday morning to ascertain the extent of the damage from Monday’s massive earthquake, which was centered in Ishikawa Prefecture’s Noto region, and decided measures to save lives and rescue victims.

At the headquarters, set up under the Basic Law on Disaster Management, Kishida instructed the relevant ministries and agencies to “take all possible measures to support the victims by securing supplies such as food, blankets and fuel, providing medical treatment and restoring infrastructure such as electricity and water supply.”

The government will put priority on the Noto Peninsula earthquake for the time being, and Kishida told reporters Tuesday morning that he would postpone his visit to Ise Shrine in Mie Prefecture, which had been scheduled for Thursday.

　The government set up the Emergency Response Office within the Prime Minister’s Office’s Crisis Management Center immediately after the earthquake, and Kishida instructed relevant entities to provide accurate information on tsunami and evacuation, assess the extent of damage as soon as possible, and do their utmost to save lives and rescue victims in cooperation with local governments.

　The Self-Defense Forces have mobilized about 10,000 personnel, with 1,000 Ground Self-Defense Force members already arriving in the afflicted areas and engaging in full-scale rescue operations. A total of 18 aircraft, including helicopters, have been deployed, and a destroyer carrying relief supplies departed for the Noto Peninsula on Monday night.

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