¥1 Trillion in Damages Estimated in Quake-Hit Ishikawa Prefecture for Infrastructure, Industries

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:51 JST, March 2, 2024

The Noto Peninsula Earthquake has caused a total of ¥1.15 trillion in damages to civil engineering facilities, agriculture, forestry and fisheries industries and small and midsize businesses in Ishikawa Prefecture, according to recent estimates.

“The amount is beyond imagination,” Ishikawa Gov. Hiroshi Hase said at a press conference Friday that marked two months since the powerful earthquake struck the prefecture. “We must aim to make our infrastructure more resilient.”

About 3,900 infrastructure facilities, such as roads and river-related sites that are managed by the Ishikawa prefectural government and 17 municipalities in the prefecture, were damaged by the Jan. 1 disaster, with damage totaling an estimated ¥630 billion.

Damage to agriculture, forestry and fisheries industries was ¥200 billion, and damage to small and midsize businesses was ¥320 billion, according to the estimates.

As of Friday, the death toll from the disaster totaled 241, with 76,813 houses damaged. More than 10,000 people have been displaced, and water remains cut off to about 18,000 households in seven municipalities, including Wajima and Suzu.