Kumamoto Quake Victims Mourned 10 Years On

Mashiki, Kumamoto Pref., April 14 (Jiji Press)–People on Tuesday paid tribute to the victims of a pair of powerful earthquakes that struck mainly Kumamoto Prefecture 10 years ago. In the town of Mashiki in the southwestern Japan prefecture, around 40 town officials, including its mayor, Hironori Nishimura, offered white flowers at an altar set up near the municipal office building and gave silent prayers to those who lost their lives in the disaster. Tuesday marked the 10th anniversary of the foreshock that occurred April 14, 2016. The main quake struck two days later. “I pledged to pass on the lessons of the earthquakes (to the next generation) and make our town more vibrant than before the disaster,” Nishimura told reporters. “As there are still people who have not yet been able to rebuild their lives, I will continue to support afflicted people to the very end,” he added. Manabu Furuta and his wife, Tae, both 79, whose house was destroyed by the disaster, recalled the past decade as they offered flowers at the altar. After evacuation, they were forced to live in temporary housing for about seven years. The 10 years “have passed so quickly,” Manabu said, adding that the most important thing in times of disaster is “the connection between people.” Mika Nakayama, 46, whose relative was killed when a house collapsed in the foreshock, offered prayers with her first son, Haruki, 19, and first daughter, Honoka, 18. Haruki, who was an elementary school fourth grader at the time, said he aims to become a nursery teacher. “I hope to share (my experience) with children who don’t know the earthquakes.” Yasuyo Kayano, 80, whose house was flattened by the disaster, said: “It’s been 10 years, but we should never forget (the quakes). We have to build a new community that is resilient to natural disasters.” The foreshock, with a magnitude of 6.5, registered 7, the highest level on Japan’s seismic intensity scale, in Mashiki. The 7.3-magnitude main shock did so in the town and the nearby village of Nishihara in the same prefecture. It was the first time since the start of earthquake observation in Japan that the intensity level of 7 had been registered twice in sequential seismic activities in the same region. In Mashiki, deaths totaled 45 in the disaster, including people who died due to indirect causes. Ninety-eight pct of the housing in the town suffered damage, with 6,259 homes destroyed or heavily damaged. The number of residents who were evacuated to shelters peaked at some 16,000. All damaged public facilities in Mashiki were restored by the end of March last year. A prefectural road that had been blocked by collapsed houses to hinder evacuation and rescue activities at the time of the disaster was reopened last month after refurbishment work. The Kumamoto prefectural government’s 28-hectare land readjustment project in Mashiki, which is part of the efforts to build disaster-resilient communities, is scheduled for completion in March 2028. The April 2016 quakes claimed the lives of a total of 278 people in Kumamoto and neighboring Oita Prefecture, including deaths from indirect causes. In Kumamoto, up to about 183,800 people were evacuated to shelters simultaneously. The number of people who were forced to live in temporary housing and other facilities peaked at about 47,800, from 20,255 households. Also on Tuesday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told a press conference in Tokyo that the government will “continue efforts to reconstruct affected areas as soon as possible in cooperation with local governments concerned.” The top government spokesman noted that measures introduced during the Kumamoto earthquakes, including so-called push-type assistance, were of help as well for the January 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake in central Japan and other disasters. The push-type assistance system provides relief goods without waiting for requests for help from affected communities. “We will make use of experiences and lessons learned from past disasters to strengthen the country’s disaster response capabilities,” Kihara said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]