5.landslides
Landslide makes a rescue difficult. landslide is associated with a risk of secondary disaster. Rescuers have to make an wide search of the landslide site.
The landslides completely destroyed 57 houses, half destroyed 33 houses, and partially destroyed 17 houses. There were 389 landslides in Ishikawa Prefecture, 18 in Niigata Prefecture, 13 in Toyama Prefecture.
A 38-year-old man was on the second floor. Shortly after the quake occurred, his house got caught in a landslide. Though he escaped from rubble, his father and mother, his sister and her son on the second floor were buried in mud. His mother and sister were found the following day. His father and his nephew were found on Jan. 6. When they were discovered, his father was wrapping his arms around his nephew.
A 52-year-old man lost his wife and his four children, his wife's parents, his wife's brother and his wife and his son due to a landslide. He had remained in Kanazawa for his work. His wife and his children used to return her wife's home to celebrate the New Year every year. He was scheduled to join them on Jan. 1. One of his sons worked as a cook and made New Year's foods. He had been looking forward to eating them.
6. Fire in Wajima
Wajima Morning Market(Wajima Asaichi), one of the three major morning markets in Japan, had been held in the center of Wajima City almost every day. The market stalls had lined both sides of the Asaichi Street with an overall length of 360m.
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| pre-quake Asaichi Street Copyright: Ishikawa Prefectural Tourism League |
The fire broke out in a single place. According to Fire and Disaster Management Agency, the fire in the center of Wajima City started from the electrical wiring damaged by the quake. The area spanning 49000 square meters with about 240 buildings was destroyed by a massive fire. Firefighters received a call at 5:23 p.m. on Jan. 1.
Fire hydrants in the area were not available due to water outage. A nearby river was nearly dried up due to ground uplift. They couldn't gain access to a fire cistern due to scattered rubble. Pumping water from the sea was not permitted because the highest-level tsunami warning was given. Finally they pumped water through some hoses connected to the water source, such as school's pool water, a fire cistern in a distant place. They completely extinguished all the fire at 5:10 p.m. on Jan. 6.
The victims stuck in the rubble were caught by flames. Their family members kept on saying to the victims comfortingly until much closer to fire, but they left the scene with the utmost reluctance. As of Jan. 31, according to the National Police Agency, 12 victims were unknown causes of death. All of them were found in Wajima City. The bodies were presumed found in the ruins of the fire. It is inferred that the cause of death in charred victims could not be determined.
Fire occured in 17 spots in Ishikawa, Toyama, Niigata prefectures. As of Jan. 31, According to the National Police Agency, three people were burned to death. The number of fire-related deaths is previously unannounced.
Wajima Morning Market(Wajima Asaichi) will be held in Kanazawa on March 23. The market is considerd to be held on a regular basis.
A photo studio along the Asaichi Street in Wajima City burnt down, but they transmitted image data for a school yearbook to a local printer before the quake. On March 1, graduates of the school will receive their yearbooks.
7.road damage
There were so many roads damaged by the quake and landslides that 30% of them are under repair. National Route 259 is the important transport artery. As of Feb. 22, eight parts of National Route 259 have been closed due to 2 landslides, 4 slope collapses, a tunnel damage, and a road damage. Two parts of an expressway have been closed. Three parts of another two national routes have been closed due to a landslide and road damages. Forty-six parts of prefectural roads have been closed.
Some small villages are situated in the mountains. Without a road to other areas, 3345 villagers of 24 villages were stranded in the aftermath of the earthquake. Some members of the Self-Defense Forces and some villagers went on foot to the villages to deliver emergency relief goods. As of Feb. 13, all of the villages have come out of isolation.
8. lifeline damage
As of Feb. 22, about 22510 houses are out of water in Ishikawa Prefecture. As of Feb. 9, 92% of all sewers was still damaged in Suzu City. The power and the gas are back in most areas. Communication services are recovered outside Wajima City and Suzu City. The Noto Airport resumed service.
Railroad tracks of the Noto Railway and JR Nanao line were damaged by the quake.
About half of the Noto Railway's tracks and all tracks of JR Nanao line were repaired. The train services of JR Nanao line and Noto Railway between Wakura Onsen and Noto-Nakajima reopened on Feb. 15. The rest of tracks are repairing, with bustitution from Noto-Nakajima to Anamizu.
9. shelters
Since the evacuees included many non-residents, some shelters exceeded their capacity at first.
In a shelter, a mother told her two children that they could do a weep once a day.
Crying is infectious. If someone cry there, another evacuees will dissolve into tears.
One of the children said, "I shed tears for today."
Now evacuees themselves are runnunng a shelter by helping each other. They go to work, go to school, go to their damaged homes to search for something important or to clear up a mess during daytime.
Some mobile laundry trailers, some mobile toilet trailers, seven mobile pharmacy trucks, a mobile medical clinic for pets worked or are working now. Of course many food trucks have served food at shelters.
According to Japan Broadcasting Corporation(NHK), as of Feb. 12, 6000 took refuge at the homes of relatives, 4000 have remained at their homes, 120 have spent nights in their cars, about 930 people of the evacuees fled temporarily to 30 prefectures other than Ishikawa Prefecture. Other places such as meeting places, plastic greenhouses(!) also have been used as shelters. Many evacuees prefer to remain in familiar territory. They have to clear up their houses, are afraid of sneak-thieving, and are unwilling to do long-distance commuting.
10. disaster-related death
There are growing concerns about disaster-related death of older people.
On Feb. 7, 15 victims died of disaster-related death. Disaster-related deaths can be caused by physical deconditioning due to a cataclysmic situation by coldness, worsening of chronic disease, disruption of healthcare delivery services, psychological stress.
The local government encourages to move to safe shelters including hotels and facilities outside the affected areas. However unfamiliar lands and people discomfort them. It is feared that older people become physically inactive and become demented due to environmental changes. It would be ideal if all the villagers including older people evacuate to a same shelter outside the affected areas. There are some cases that all the villagers went to a same accommodation such as a hotel in another area. They are allowed to stay there until early March. The prefecture offered them to move deemed temporary housing including public housing. As of Feb. 22, according to Ishikawa Prefecture, the number of evacuees by group locomotion from the Noto Peninsula rose to 930.
11. temporary housing
The local government is building regular relocation facilities. Though Wajima City has begun construction on to build 964 temporary houses, the number of applications is over 4140.
12. Exodus of students
Late January, about 400 junior high school students in Wajima City, Suzu City, Noto-cho went to Kanazawa and Hakusan cities and have studied in groups. Their schools have been used as shelters. The local government couldn't provide a favorable learning environment for students. Exodus of the students lessens the weight of their parents. Moreover, many students take an entrance exam from late January to early March.
All of the public elementary and junior high schools in Ishikawa Prefecture relaunched on Feb.6., but not all the students went to another areas in group. Some students have remained in the afflicted area and go to school from a shelter. Some moved to another areas with their families. Many of them have lived and studied with other students in Kanazawa and Hakusan cities.
13. shelter with pets
There is few shelters for evacuees with pets in the affected area. Most of them have spend nights in a car or have remained in their damaged homes.
A man with his dog perished in a fire. He had remained at his home for his dog.
14. disaster recovery volunteer
Road damage and water outage is hampering activities of volunteers in worst-affected regions of Ishikawa Prefecture. The volunteer work is limited to 3-4 hours a day. Dozens of people started doing volunteer activities in Suzu City from Feb. 4, Wajima City from Feb. 10. The local government is trying secure sleeping places for supporting local officials, construction workers, volunteers. Individual volunteers have significant limitations. The volunteers and evacuees are doing disposal of huge volume disaster rubble.
The government started operation of sleeping facilities for volunteers in Anamizu-machi, Ishikawa Prefecture on Feb. 26.
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