Over 1,000 still in Japan shelters 3 months after Kumamoto quake: ‘exhausted all the time’

More than 1,000 people are still taking shelter in evacuation centres, awaiting temporary housing three months after a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Japan’s Kumamoto prefecture, damaging their homes.

The quake occurred at 4.27pm on July 28. As of Monday, the death toll stood at 38 – 36 from confirmed disaster-related causes and two suspected to be disaster-related – bringing the number of casualties to 420.

Evacuation centres remain open at 21 locations in seven cities and towns. In Yatsushiro, 579 people, accounting for more than half of the evacuees, remain in shelters, followed by 263 in Uki, 155 in Hikawa and 65 in Uto.

The number of damaged homes stands at 82,223, including 2,585 that were completely destroyed.

Yoichi Yamaguchi, 74, who has been staying at an evacuation centre in Yatsushiro, said: “I can’t sleep well, and I just feel exhausted all the time.”

His home was partially destroyed, and although he applied for temporary housing, he was not selected. “I don’t know how many more months it will take before I can leave here.”

Kumamoto prefecture released a draft restoration and reconstruction plan on Tuesday, outlining measures to help residents rebuild their lives, including providing temporary housing as quickly as possible.

“We must make this plan a ray of hope for the disaster-stricken areas,” Kumamoto Governor Takashi Kimura said on Tuesday at a meeting on reconstruction.

The prefecture has drawn up a road map through the 2028 financial year for measures aimed at rebuilding people’s lives and restoring social infrastructure.

For example, in light of challenges including extreme heat and water outages that took a month to resolve, the plan outlines measures such as revising evacuation shelter operation manuals, strengthening water and sewer systems, and providing physical and mental healthcare for disaster victims.

The plan also includes new tsunami countermeasures amid concerns that a fault segment extending offshore near the quake’s epicentre did not rupture during the earthquake.