Over 1,000 still in shelters three months after Kumamoto quake

Kumamoto – While reconstruction efforts have been progressing since a powerful earthquake struck Kumamoto Prefecture in July, 1,073 people were still staying in shelters there as of Tuesday, with Wednesday marking three months since the disaster.

The earthquake registered the maximum seismic intensity level of 7 on the Japanese shindo scale and left 38 people dead, including those who died from indirect causes.

According to the prefectural government, 82,223 houses were affected, with 11,429 of them completely or partially destroyed. The publicly funded demolition of affected houses began last month, but as of Oct. 21, only one house had been removed.

The number of evacuees temporarily exceeded 10,000 but has since decreased to around one-tenth of the peak. As of Friday, a total of 2,685 people had moved into temporary housing.

Meanwhile, about 380 people had left their jobs as of Oct. 16, due to the disaster, according to the Kumamoto Labor Bureau. The bureau received about 4,200 consultations by Friday, and the prefectural government and others are providing employment support.

Infrastructure restoration is only halfway finished. There is still no prospect of restoring wells in the city of Yatsushiro. As of Oct. 13, the city government had received 3,690 consultations, including those regarding a lack of running water. The city is facing a shortage of plumbers.

All railways damaged by the earthquake have been restored.

On Tuesday, the prefectural government announced draft plans to rebuild the daily lives of affected residents and create disaster-resilient communities.

“We want to steadily advance new, creative reconstruction that is full of hope for the disaster-stricken areas,” Kumamoto Gov. Takashi Kimura said.