Noto Peninsula Earthquake

Japan Designates Noto Peninsula Earthquake as Extreme Severe Disaster (Update 1)

The Yomiuri Shimbun

11:31 JST, January 11, 2024

The government designated the Noto Peninsula Earthquake as an “extremely severe disaster” in a round-robin Cabinet meeting on Thursday.

The decision will increase subsidies ratio for road and farmland restoration and reduce the financial burden on affected municipalities without limitations.

In the meeting, the quake was also designated as “specified disaster” which will extend the validity period of driver’s licenses and restaurant business licenses for disaster victims.

At an emergency disaster taskforce meeting held at the Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday morning, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida mentioned the designation, saying, “We will firmly support the affected local governments in rebuilding people’s lives.”

He also said that a government team was sent to affected areas on the same day to assess the danger level of school buildings, and urged relevant municipalities to ensure the early reopening of schools.