One month after Noto quake, challenges remain in restoration effort

A month after a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck Ishikawa Prefecture’s Noto Peninsula on New Year’s Day, myriad challenges remain in the recovery effort, with about 14,000 people still living at evacuation shelters as officials race to repair infrastructure in the region.

In the quake, more than 46,000 houses in the prefecture were severely damaged or destroyed. A large portion of the population was also cut off from water supplies.

For some areas, restoration may take months. Around 40,000 households in a total of eight cities and towns in Ishikawa are still without water, impacting cooking, toilets, showers and laundry.