Noto Peninsula Earthquake, Japan
A 7.6 magnitude earthquake hit the Noto Peninsula in western Japan, on 1st January 2024 at 16:10
local time. This earthquake is said to be the deadliest earthquake in Japan since the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake – there have so far been 240 deaths, 15 people missing and over 1,200 civilians injured.
The most damage occurred in towns near the epicenter including Wajima, Suzu and Anamizu where
thousands of buildings (12,443 in Ishikawa Prefecture) were damaged.
The earthquake resulted in tens of thousands of survivors being displaced from their homes. These
civilians are lacking basic necessities such as food and running water – there are also over 55,000
homes in affected areas without access to water.
Humanity First responded through it’s local team in Japan within the first week. The Humanity First Disaster Relief Programme‘s first responder team conducted assessments in the region despite the difficulty of reaching some towns. Eventually, our team were allocated a school in Wajima City where around 400 people, mainly elderly, were sheltering.
Over a two-week period through much of January, the team provided an estimated 5,200 cooked meals and 7,500 hot drinks. The team continue to assess needs.
Humanity First Japan has a long history of responding to seismic events, tsunamis and flooding in the region having previously responded to emergencies in Kobe (1995), Tohoku (2011), Kumamoto (2016) and Shikoku (2018).
